Alone in the Darkness
by CloudedMirror
Summary: When a spy mission takes a mysterious turn, will the members of team 7 be able to survive the information, the betrayal, the mind control and the danger? Sasu/Saku. Note: chap 1 has 2 parts so read both. COMPLETE! T for language.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto...or shikamaru...or sasuke...

So this is my first fanfic and I hope you all like it. I really hate how Sakura is so weak and whiny in the show. I wanted her to be herself but tougher. I hope it works...

Chapter 1

Sakura waited patiently on her branch. It was quiet, too quiet. She couldn't hear any birds or squirrels. Someone was in the forest with her. She was being followed. Tsunade had given her a mission to retrieve an ancient scroll form ruins just outside of Suna. If the scrolls fell into the wrong hands it would give the user infinite power. Sakura was to protect the scroll with her life.

Sakura smiled. There it was. Barely visible, as a genin she wouldn't have been able to detect the transformation but as an advanced jonin she could see through the transformation. It was performed very well she had to admit. She had almost missed it. But the bush a few feet behind her was definitely a ninja. She pulled out a kunai and hurled it at the bush. "Did you honestly think you could fool me with that trick? A genin could have done better."

"Hand over the scroll" stated the masked warrior as he transformed back to his original form. The ninja was dressed in all black and had his face covered up to his eyes.

"If you want it so badly come and get it from me. Or are you scared??" Sakura tuanted.

"Little girl I'd be terrified if I were you. Hanuro Sakura...Tsunade's apprentice... one of the best medic-nins. Hah! That's supposed to be you?? You look like you should be at home arranging flowers. Just hand over the scroll and I promise I won't hurt you."

Sakura's emerald eyes flared but she smiled. "You're right. Against someone so strong and able like you, I wouldn't stand a chance. Tsunade-sama should have never chosen me for this mission. Here take the scroll." She held out the scroll.

He reached out to take the scroll from her hand. Four kunais barely missed his head as he leaped out of the way. He returned the kunais with two of his own and the shadow clone disappeared. Two more kunai came from behind him and four more form each side. Sakura had cornered the ninja. She smiled "Sorry but I don't care much for arranging flowers"

"Not so fast. Don't make another move." He growled as he appeared behind Sakura. He pressed a kunai to her throat. "I warned you. Now you're gonna die." And with that the ninja fell over.

The shadow clone in front of him disappeared. And Sakura walked out of the forest behind him. "Tsk. Tsk. Tsk. You underestimated me. You think you know everything about me?" she gave him a sad smile, "Those needles that I just inserted into you contained a deadly poison that will devour your chakra and then your flesh will slowly decay until you die. But if you tell me who sent you I might give you the antidote" she smirked, leaving no trace of the sad look she had just a second ago.

"Never. You'll pay for this. My death will be avenged." he spat. He tried to stand but fell over.

"Then die." Sakura turned and left, leaving the ninja to die.

It was true she wasn't who she was before. Before Sasuke left Sakura was a love sick girl. She would do anything to try to impress him. Things were different now.

--------------------------------------------------flashback---------------------------------------------

"Oh! Sasuke-kun. You're back! I'm happy you're home to stay. Maybe...maybe now we can go out some time?" Sakura asked hopeful. She had been delighted to learn that Sasuke had returned from his personal mission. He had been victorious in his attempt to kill Itachi and even Orichimaru and he came back more powerful than ever.

"Hn." He glared at her, "You don't get it do you. You're annoying. Stop hovering around me all the time. If you'd use half the time you're hovering around me maybe you wouldn't be such a weak ninja. Go be useful for a change.

---------------------------------------end flashback----------------------------------------------------

Sakura had been hurt by his words again. She had taken his words to heart and she decided that if she really wanted his love she would have to gain his admiration first. But now she didn't care. After being shot down so many times she had given up. Her heart had become hard and all the feeling of love she had towards him were gone.

Sakura had arrived in Kanoha and went to Tsunade's office and presented her with the scroll.

"Good job Sakura. You did well."

"Thank you sensei. Is there any thing you would like me to do for you right now/"

"No go rest. But meet Kakashi at your old meeting place. I have a mission for the old Team 7. You won't have to leave until two days form today so I trust that you will be at your best?

"Of course. But if I may ask, what mission is so difficult that it would take all three of us to complete?

"It is a rather difficult task. But you will understand better tomorrow. Right now I want you to rest. If you don't have anymore questions you are dismissed."

"Haii" Sakura turned and left.

_What the hell!! I haven't even seen Sasuke for months and she expects me to work with him. At least Naruto still comes by. CHA Well aren't they in for a surprise. If they think that I'm gonna slow this mission down they're gonna have to think twice. HA! I'll show them. I've gotten stronger._

So...??? what did you all think?? This is my first fanfic ever so please read and review. Im really bad at fight scenes but I tried my best tho. Any suggestions on how to make it better? Also I apologize for the way some of the characters address each other. Im not very familiar with Japanese formalities... hehe sorry. No flames please but constructive criticism is welcome. Oo and any ideas on how the rest of the story should go are also welcome.


	2. Chapter 1 continued

**So I was driving to work and a stroke of genius hit me. Well… not really genius but now I kinda know wat this story is gonna be about. Up until then I didn't even know why it was called "Alone in the Darkness" but now I have a reason…a good reason… but before all that I have to finish chaper one… yea that's right im not done with it yet…**

**Chapter 1 cont'd**

Sakura made her way to the training grounds. She moved around others training to her favorite spot. She was surrounded by trees and four targets. From here she could see everyone on the training grounds but she was almost completely hidden. She took out a couple kunais and jumped into a nearby tree. She aimed at the target on the right threw her kunai and jumped into another tree. She threw two more kunai that sliced the air and struck the first two. The kunais glanced off of each other striking each target dead center.

"Bulls eye" Sakura said breathing heavily. _This is getting too easy… I need to train harder._ With that thought Sakura jumped back into the trees and intensified her training.

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_Swoosh. _There it was. _Swish. _There it was again. From the corner of his eyes Sasuke could see flashes of pink and red through the trees. He could tell that the ninja was fast. He turned away from his target toward a cluster of trees and bushes. He could see the hidden training grounds. _But where is the ninja?_ He scanned the trees and bushes but didn't see any one. _Swish. _And just like that one of the bushes turned into a pink blur and disappeared into the thicket of trees. _That bush was a ninja. I couldn't even tell. The illusionary technique was so good I completely missed it! And I didn't even see the ninja, but he was able to hit all six targets and then completely vanish._ Sasuke turned on his sharingan. It had been a while since he had met someone who could escape his quick eyes. _Swoosh. _Wheat he saw surprised him. _Sakura…? When did she get so fast. _

Sasuke watched her for a few minutes. She had definitely changed. She was quick, agile and so far every jutsu she used was completely mastered.

"Ano… excuse me Sasuke-san?" Sasuke turned to see a terrified young boy.

"What." Sasuke glared at him.

"U-uh… Tsunade-sama w-wanted to see you." he stuttered.

"Hn. Fine." Sasuke replied with a look of annoyance. He turned his head to get one last glance at Sakura and left.

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Sakura slid the door to her house open and went inside. She walked up to her bedroom and flopped down on her bed. She was tired. She had trained a lot harder and longer today. _I hope I'm strong enough…_ But she didn't have time for a second thought because she was already asleep.

A blood curdling scream pierced the calm night air. Sakura leaped out of bed swiftly pulling out a kunai at the same time. _What the hell was that?_ Sakura looked out her window but she didn't see or hear anything.

---------

Sasuke sat up throwing his sweat soaked covers off of him. He shivered and realized he was trembling. Shaking. He was scared. _Not again. It happened again…_Sasuke put his head in his hands breathing heavily. Sweat rolled down from his forehead to the tip of his nose and down his back. He tried to keep himself from sobbing and breaking down completely. _No…please not again…_

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**soo… wat do ya think of the rest of the chapter…? Like the ending?? Hehehe… the more reviews I get the sooner ill update… n.n**


	3. Chapter 2

**A/N: thoughts in _italics_, dialogue in "quotes"**

**Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me in any way shape or form. However this story is mine and mine alone!!!**

**Chapter 2**

Sakura looked at herself in the mirror. She was wearing brown cargo pants and a dark green shirt that brought out her emerald eyes. Her short hair hung loosely around her shoulders. She placed her headband on her head and tied it behind her head. Sakura looked at herself in the mirror again and tucked stray pink hair behind her ear and sighed. It had been so long since she had seen her old friends. Sure, she had seen Naruto and Kakashi here and there but only in passing. Never had they really been on a mission together after Sasuke's disappearance. _This must be some mission if its gonna take all of us. I wonder why Tsunade-sama chose us to be the ones going on this mission. _Sakura looked at the clock in her room. It was eight o'clock. _Yikes, I better get going if I want to get there on time._ She turned away from her mirror and left.

It was bright and sunny day outside but inside Sakura's heart there was nothing but turmoil. _I wonder what he's gonna be like. Not that I care...maybe I do. NO! Definitely not. I'm completely over him. Yeah...he's nothing to me...but I love him. NO!! I used to love him. NO! I didn't love him. It was a crush. An innocent crush. Nothing more, nothing less. Yes, that's it...or maybe I'm just denying it...NO! I'm not I'm...uhh...I'm...ok think about something else now. Naruto has definitely grown. Last I heard he's gotten very powerful. Not to mention he's hot. Not that I like him like that. I think he finally opened his eyes to Hinata. She has always been there for him but that idiot can't ever see what's right in front of him. She'll be good to him. HA!! I bet Kakashi-sensi is gonna be late again!!! I wonder what his excuse is gonna be this time. _Sakura smiled but her smile quickly faded when she realized where she was. While she was lost in thought her legs had automatically carried her to the bridge that she remembered so well. The familiar image of her former love...uhh crush... leaning on the railing arms crosses, looking down, his navy hair short in the back but hanging in his eyes all the same. Actually, now that she looked at it his hair was a little longer and roughly cut like he had done it himself. His face was more defined and his body was lean and muscular. _Wow!! He looks HOT!! I mean...se-AACCCK!! NO I mean... uhh... good?? Uhh... nice...he he. I have got to stop thinking like this. I'm gonna drive myself crazy. But it's not my fault. Its just this place. Yeah... its the place and the people. This is just my memory affecting my judgment. I can't let that happen, I'm about to go on a mission! I need to focus. Ok breathe Sakura...breathe... he probably doesn't even remember you that well anyway...breathe..._Sakura put on the best blank face that she could manage but she couldn't keep the nervousness from her eyes.

---------

Sasuke could see her approach from the corner of his eye. Ever since he was able to advance his sharingan to the most advanced level without actually killing Naruto, his normal sight had improved as well. She stopped short of the bridge like she just realized where she was. Her facial expression changed countless times before she put on a mock blank face and slowly started to make her way towards him. Sasuke couldn't help but notice with some dark amusement that she was a nervous wreck. _She's going to start squealing any moment. Or worse, she's gonna cry.(He scowled inwardly)_._ She's going to act all bubbly and cheerful and she's gonna ask me out again... Ugh... she's so...so...troublesome, as Shikamaru would put it. Why exactly does she have to go on this mission, anyway? Can't Naruto and I handle it ourselves? I mean I guess she got stronger but still... three jonin? Oh no, here she comes...she's gonna... huh?... (blinks)... she didn't say anything. Nothing at all. Actually she doesn't even seem nervous anymore, either. WHA?!? She's completely ignoring me! Like I'm not here at all. I don't know whether to feel insulted or not. Hn... whatever, it's not like I care. She can ignore me all she wants...it was just surprising, thats all. I like the quiet. Kakashi is late again, I see. Some people never change. Sakura, on the other hand, is completely different. She's strong for one thing. I wonder just how strong, though. That was a pretty impressive display yesterday. She's also grown. She looks stunning, though... beautiful... uhh... where did that come from? Well...I guess you could say that she's pretty...but I don't like her like that. She's annoying... not that she's annoying right now... actually I like how it is right now... its very peaceful. But yeah... I definitely don't like her. _

It occured to Sasuke that he was staring he looked back down, color rushing to his face. Suddenly the silence became awkward but neither of the two were willing to be the first to say anything.

_Say something dammit!! I can't stand this kind of silence anymore... she better say som-_

"Sakura-chan!!!!!" called a sing song voice that could belong to no other than a certain blonde ninja running their way. Sasuke's thoughts were cut off by none other than that idiot of a ninja, Naruto. "Hey!! Sasuke-kun long time no see, huh? Wow, this is just like old times isn't it? Wow Sakura!! You look absolutely stunning! Doesn't she Sasuke?? Oh, come on... you know she's pretty. Admit it!"

Sasuke's eyes threw daggers at Naruto. But Naruto just laughed it off. "I bet Kakashi-sensei is late again! Typical old Kakashi. Haha, this mission is gonna be lots of fun, don't you think?"

"You'll never change will you Naruto?" asked Sakura with a smile. _He's still his old self. Still trying to be Hokage and all. I have to admit this kid is determined. I admire that about him but I guess I forgot how much he drove me insane. _Pwoof!! Out of no where Kakashi appeared holding his favorite book.

"Rrrgh!!! Kakashi!!! YOU'RE LATE!! After all these years you couldn't just be on time for once? What's you're excuse this time?" Naruto yelled, obviously irratated.

Kakashi blinked and then smiled under his mask. "Hello to you too, Naruto. Well, actually I did plan on being on time but you see, I was strolling down the path of life wh-"

"AHHWAH?!?!?! ALL these years and you _still_ use the same excuse? You'd think that after all these years you would want to come early so you could see your old students but no. You decided to be late and on top of that you didn't even bother to make up a different excuse. I mean come on! Is it really that hard to just-"

"You haven't changed a bit Naruto." Kakashi cut Naruto off and continued, "Sakura, you have grown quite a bit. And Sasuke, you look the same as ever but I know that's not the case. All of you have gotten considerably stronger. This brings me to tell you why we are all here." Kakashi stopped and looked at his former students.

Three pairs of eyes were looking back at him very intently. Kakashi took a deep breath and said, "This mission is probably going to be one of the hardest missions you will ever take on. You need to be prepared not only physically but mentally as well. This mission is classified as a Rank B but it may be upgraded to a Rank A based on the information you provide us with. You three have to travel to the Mist Village and collect any information you can on a ninja named Otonashi. Any information you get may be critical to Konoha. All that we know right now is that he and his followers are planning an attack. Something big that's going to include many people dieing. We were sent a message through one of our own ninja who was captured by them, tortured, poisoned and then delivered to our doors. In his dieing state he was able to tell us that the ninja who had imprisoned him had a base in the Mist Village. He said that they were a part of a large, very powerful organization that is secretly getting stronger. Before he died he was able to give us the name of their leader, Otonashi. He also said that he physically was a warning of the destruction that will soon be coming to Konoha. We did some background checks on Otonashi and we think he may have had connections to Itachi."

Sasuke's eyes flared at the mention of his dead brother. He could feel his team's eyes on him, looking at him curiously. "Hn… so you want me on this mission because of what I know about Itachi."

"Precisely" said Kakashi, "that makes you a perfect candidate, not to mention your superior shinobi skills. You are a key to this mission. No one knows your brother like you. We think that after the experience you've had with him it will help you to recognize things that are his doing or things he was involved in. I personally think that Itachi may have been a part of something much bigger. Naruto and Sakura, you are also critical to this mission," he said, turning to them.

"Yeah!! Alright! I knew there was more to this mission. What is it, Kakashi-sensei? What do I have to do?" asked Naruto enthusiastically.

"Calm down, Naruto. This is a spy mission. You have to make sure that you don't call too much attention to yourselves. First of all, you have to learn everything you can about Itachi from Sasuke. And Sasuke, I know it may be hard for you to talk about him, but it is critical that you do."

Sasuke glared at Kakashi. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his brother to _them. _"I guess I don't really have much of a choice, do I?" he said, annoyed and angry.

Kakashi looked at him thoughtfully, "As long as you understand what is being asked of you, you should be fine. Your mission is to identify Otonashi. We know almost nothing about him. No physical description, no knowledge of his powers or anything else. Second, you have to find out everything you can about whatever they are planning to do. You should leave tomorrow and I want you to send reports as often as you can without being noticed." He paused, looking at them and said, "I want you all to be extremely careful. I'm telling you this as your teacher and friend. I don't want any of you to die on this mission and, trust me, there will be many opportunities for that."

"Don't worry about us, Kakashi-sensei. We'll be fine," said Sakura sweetly.

But Kakashi was worried. _I just hope they are prepared because if they aren't already then nothing I say is going to help them now._

Kakashi nodded, "Your new skills should come in handy on this mission. Well, that's it then. I'll leave you guys to catch up. _Be careful!_" Pwoof. Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of smoke. The three ninja remained silent, lost in thought.

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**A/N:** So what do you think?? Now press the little button on the bottom left of the page and REVIEW!!!!! The more reviews, the quicker you find out what's wrong with Sasuke!! If anyone can guess what's wrong with him they will get a super sized cookie and an honorable mention!!! Now REVIEW!

X-AMAYA-CHAN-X: I am sooo sorry. I kno I promised to post this up sooner but school is the home of the devil and I couldn't escape fast enough. I am terribly sorry and I promise I will try to submit the 3rd chapter sooner b/c of this.


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The three stood there in awkward silence. "HEY!!!! Lets go get some ramen!!!" suggested Naruto, jumping into the air. "It's almost lunch time and I'm so hungry."

"Uh... okay. Sounds great." Sakura agreed. "How 'bout it Sasuke-kun?"

"Fine," said Sasuke.

The three ninja started walking toward the restaurant.

"Oh hey... do you guys remember hearing a scream last night? It sounded like someone was being killed or something. I tried looking around yesterday but I didn't find anything unusual." Naruto asked.

"Actually, come to think of it, I did hear something. It woke me up last night. I looked outside my window but I didn't see anything either. What about you Sasuke-kun? Did you hear it?" Sakura turned and asked.

"Uhh... Sasuke-kun? Are you ok?"

At the word "scream" Sasuke had frozen, all color leaving his face, making him look pasty white. He knew that it was him. The memory of last night flooded his mind and _it _took over again. _It was the... the... the _thing. This shouldn't be happening... Sasuke could feel his mind cloud up. Tall, thick walls of darkness quickly pressed down on him from all sides, leaving no way to escape, no way to fight, no way to move. He was trapped. Again. Sasuke's vision faded and he felt his knees give out.

---------------------------------------------Sasuke's Mind-------------------------------------------

_Oh no... not again. It's happening again... not right now. If this happens again right now they're gonna know... I need to find a way out of this before... before he... _

"Sasuke-kun..." called a voice tauntingly, "I see you're back. Couldn't resist, could you?"

"Who are you? What have you done to me?" asked Sasuke, trying to keep the fear out of his voice and failing miserably. The voice was inside his head, reading his every thought. It didn't matter what he did, he couldn't conceal anything from the Voice. It knew everything. It could rip down all the defensive barriers Sasuke had created over the years with ease, like a child tearing paper.

"You know exactly who I am." The Voice stated darkly. "Hm... it's gonna be fun to play with you." It laughed evilly.

"What do you want with me?" asked Sasuke. He looked all around him but he couldn't see anything but dark gray thunderclouds. They were everywhere. They were above him, below him and all around. The clouds rolled, giving off an eerie glow. Sasuke looked around but he couldn't see anything.

"Let's have some fun. I want to KILL!!" Sasuke heard The Voice, right next to his ear. He felt as if someone was standing right behind him. He felt The Voice put his arm around him and pull him back.

Sasuke spun around to see who it was but he didn't see anything, just endless black clouds swirling around, casting shadows.

"Why? Why do you want to kill me?" asked Sasuke, "Who are you?"

"Why so many questions, little one? Hmm... I guess I could answer. I don't want to kill you, at least not yet. And as for who I am... haha I have an idea. Why don't we play a game?"

"Game?" Sasuke didn't like the sound of that.

"What kind of game?"

"Simple, really. You guess who I am and for each name you get wrong I make you kill one of your friends. When you get my name right, you win a prize. Oh, yes, a lovely prize." The Voice laughed. His laugh was thick and dark, oozing with evil and dripping with hatred.

Sasuke's eyes widened with fear. "You're sick! What makes you think I would hurt anyone for you?"

The Voice laughed his dark laugh again, "You truly are a great toy. Oh, I can see this is going to be fun. Little one, I don't intend on giving you an option in killing them. I intend on forcing you to kill them. For someone so smart you really are very stupid. Now then, shall we start playing?"

"I'm not gonna play this sick game! Get out of my head!" Sasuke turned and ran. He didn't know where he was going but he knew he had to get away from whomever that was. They were too strong for him. Sasuke ran blindly through the dark, wispy clouds.

"Hahaha. You can't escape me!" the Voice was still right behind him. No matter how far or how fast he ran, Sasuke could feel the Voice's presence all around him. "Hmm... you're starting to bore me. Tell you what. You can go for now but make sure you have a name in mind by tomorrow night. I'll come back then." All of a sudden the dark cloud started to fade and the oppressive walls started to get thinner.

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Sasuke blinked and opened his eyes. He sat up and covered his face with his trembling hands. He felt tears on his face and quickly wiped them off.

"Uh, hey, Sasuke? Are you ok?" asked Naruto. "You just sorta collapsed. Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine," Sasuke said, trying his best to keep his voice form trembling. He didn't want anyone to know that there was something controlling his mind. What would he say? That there is a voice in my mind that is making me kill people? They would lock him up in a mad house.

"Are you sure you're ok?" asked Sakura, "You were screaming 'Get away!" to something, and you were shaking. I thought you were having some kind of seizure. That kind of thing isn't normal, you know."

"I _said_ I was fine! So stop all your worrying already! Weren't we gonna get something to eat? Let go." And with that Sasuke got up and stalked off.

Naruto ran after him calling "Hey wait up!!"

Sakura got up slowly. _Something is definitely wrong. People don't just have violent seizure-like symptoms and then get up as if it were nothing. There's got to be more to it than that. _

**A/N: so... wat do u think?? Do u like it? Review PLEASE!!! **

**Also im really sorry that its so short. Im trying my best i really am. I tried to include another scene in this but it didnt work out. Im sorry. But ill try to update as soon as i can to make up for it!! **

**So... can u guess whos gonna die first??? O.o**


	5. Chapter 4

**A/N: This one turned out a little violent. Just a warning. Hope you still like it...**

**::also there was some confusion about the Voice in ch 3. The Voice is a presence in Sasuke's mind. I'll try to make it more clear in the coming chapters.**

**Recap**

Sakura, Sasuke and Naruto are on a mission to spy on a man called Otonashi. His hide out is in the Hidden Mist Village. Otonashi seems to have some connections with Itachi. And Sasuke is having strange seizures with some Voice taking over his mind.

**Chapter 4**

The tall brunette got up and turned off her blaring alarm clock. It was early, too early. She dragged herself out of bed and carried herself to her bathroom. She tied her hair up with a little butterfly clip that matched her pajamas and looked into the mirror. "Wow I look so dead," she said and splashed cold water on her face, trying to shock her body into wakefulness.

She walked downstairs and into the kitchen and poured herself a bowl of cereal. Then she went into her living room and turned on her TV and flopped down on the couch. She flipped through the channels until she came to one of her favorite Saturday morning cartoons. She put down the remote and relaxed. Just as she was about to start eating her cereal she felt a sharp pain in her chest. She gasped. She looked down to see that a kunai had buried itself deeply in her heart and a rapidly growing blood stain soaking her shirt. She looked up to see that someone had materialized before her. Her eyes widened. "It's you!...But how?...why would..." her vision darkened and she fell back, dead.

"I'm sorry. But I didn't have a choice."

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Naruto rubbed his face and rolled out of bed. He glanced at his clock. It was 7 am. "Whaa! I'm late! I can't believe I overslept! They're gonna kill me..." Naruto ran around his room grabbing things and stuffing them in his bag while getting dressed and mumbling about alarm clocks that don't go off when they're supposed to. He was supposed to meet his friends at the bridge at 6.30 so they could leave. "I think that's everything." He looked around his apartment one last time, zipped up his bag and left at a run.

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"Where could he be? We were supposed to leave an hour ago!" said Sakura, annoyed. She and Sasuke had been waiting for Naruto for over an hour.

Sasuke looked up and saw a small figure running their way. "He's coming, I can see him."

A few minutes later Naruto got to the bridge completely out of breath, "Sorry I'm late you guys. Haha I kinda overslept." Naruto put his hands on his knees and took a few deep breaths.

"Naruto we were supposed to leave an hour ago! That's no excuse for being late!" Sakura fumed.

"Let's go already. We have to make up for the time we lost." Sasuke turned and started to walk off. Sakura was about to follow him when she heard a _pwoof._

"Kakashi-sensei!! What are you doing here?" asked Naruto surprised.

"I have new information for you all. Sasuke come back here this is important." Kakashi waited for Sasuke to get back and then continued, "Tsunade-sama has issued an arrest warrant for Otonashi. She still wants you guys to spy on him and report back to me regularly. And I will tell you when you are to move in an arrest him. Understood?"

The three ninja nodded. "Shouldn't the ANBU be doing this kind of work?" asked Sasuke.

"Well, yes. That's why there will be an ANBU agent waiting for you. I have arranged for you all to meet her on the ferry that will take you to the Hidden Mist Village. Here are your papers." Kakashi handed the papers to Sakura. "Her name is Minake. She will come up to you and identify herself and show you her ID. Don't be surprised by her appearance, she's very intelligent. Well that's it. I thought you guys would have left by now."

"We would have been gone by now if it weren't for Naruto," said Sakura, still annoyed.

"Hehe I overslept," Naruto explained.

"Well you all better get going. Be careful." And with that Kakashi disappeared again.

"Lets go," said Sasuke.

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After traveling for a few hours Naruto couldn't stand the silence anymore. "Hey Sasuke, weren't you supposed to tell us about your brother?"

"Naruto!!" said Sakura incredulously. _He probably doesn't want to talk about that now. Sometimes Naruto is so tactless._

She looked at Sasuke, his face was pale but his eyes told her that he was deep in thought. He looked down and his hair covered his face.

"What? What did I do? Kakashi said he was supposed to tell us. I was just-,"

"Kakashi wanted me to tell you what I learned about Otonashi through my brother. Not about my brother specifically." Sasuke cut Naruto off coldly. He had no intention of telling them anything about his brother. He continued to look at his feet but he could feel their eyes on him. Sasuke took a deep breath and continued, "Otonashi was Itachi's subordinate. They worked together. They were on a quest for power with the other members of Akatsuki. They were willing to do anything and kill anyone who stood in their way. I learned through Orichimaru that they performed a Blood Bind Oath."

"What's a Blood Bind Oath?" asked Sakura.

"It was an old blood line trait like my sharingan. The Blood Bind Oath was performed for old rulers and heads of villages and tribes to make lasting peace treaties and such. The Blood Bind Oath allowed two or more people to sign their names in blood and make a promise to each other. The promise could be anything on their terms, but the Blood Bind Oath made it so that the promise was impossible to break. If the promise was broken the punishments would be severe.

There is a story about a leader of a tribe who broke his Oath and attacked a neighboring tribe. He and his tribe both suffered one month of torture before they all died. The Oath boiled the tribesmen's blood and killed them from the inside out. The doctors who tried to help the tribe were powerless."

Sasuke looked up to see two horrified faces. He looked back down with a grim expression and continued, "It was because of this that people stopped using this rite. Anyways, Orochimaru said that in the Oath was performed by the members of Akatsuki after Orochimaru betrayed them. This was to prevent any more betrayal. However there was a loop hole in the Oath. Itachi used Otonashi to do things Akatsuki wouldn't let him and in turn Otonashi gained lots of power. Itachi and Otonashi seemed closer than _brothers_." Sasuke said the word with cold hatred.

When Sasuke was younger he had looked up to his brother. He was his role model. Sasuke wanted to be just like him. But then, Itachi massacred his family. Everyone Sasuke cared for, gone in one day. Even the brother he once knew was no more. Sasuke swore revenge.

"Otonashi probably wants revenge," said Sasuke after a few moments of silence, "and I plan on killing him if he does. Otonashi is just as strong as Itachi was, if not stronger. We can't underestimate him, so _never _let your guard down. And don't trust _anyone_. You never know who could be working for him."

"Hey Sasuke, how _did_ you kill Itachi if he was so powerful?"

"NA-RU-TO!! There you go again. Can't you be a little bit more considerate of other people's feelings?" Sakura punched Naruto causing a large bump to form on his head.

Sasuke remained quiet allowing their voices to fade. _::flashback::_ _Sasuke was just barely hit by Itachi's fist but he was sent flying across the empty stone room. He hit the cold grey wall and crumpled to the floor. Itachi was strong, and fast, faster than Sasuke could ever hope to be. Sasuke coughed up blood and tried to stand up but his knees kept giving out. He couldn't let Itachi win, he wouldn't._

_Itachi walked up to Sasuke and sneered at him coldly, "After all these years I thought that you would have at least been somewhat of a challenge. But I guess not." _

_Just as Itachi was about to strike the last blow Itachi saw a shadow in the corner of his eye. He turned to block Sasuke's shadow clone but was unable to block the second clone that came up form behind threw himself on Itachi stabbing him in the back. Itachi hissed with pain and threw the shadow clones off his back. He couldn't believe he had been so careless. The clones disappeared in a puff of smoke. Itachi glared at Sasuke, the wound was deep and Itachi could feel the blood flowing. If it kept up he would die from loss of blood. _

"_Seems like I underestimated you," snarled Itachi. _

"_Just a little trick I picked up from someone," smirked Sasuke._

"_Hn. You think you can beat me with just that. Think again." Itachi closed his eyes. Sasuke could feel Itachi's chakra gathering. His eyes opened and the power from his sharingan threw Sasuke back. Sasuke hit the wall again but this time he couldn't get up. He heard a piercing scream and tried to shield his ears from the chilling sound but to no avail. He realized the scream was his own as his mind clouded and his vision darkened._

_When Sasuke came to he opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in the stone room. He got up and saw Itachi on his hands and knees coughing up blood. Sasuke attacked him at once, barely giving Itachi a chance to react. After a series of kicks and blows Sasuke realized that Itachi was slowing down. The wound on his back must really be taking a toll on him. Both Itachi and Sasuke jumped back and faced each other. Sasuke gathered all the energy he had left and threw the strongest chidori he had ever unleashed at him. When Sasuke could see again he found his brother lying across the room dead. ::end flashback::_

"Well? Sasuke? How'd you do it? How'd you kill him?" asked Naruto, bringing Sasuke back to the present.

"Hn. I crushed him" answered Sasuke.

---------------

"Hey you guys. It's getting kinda dark do you want to stop for now? We can keep going in the morning" suggested Sakura.

"Yea. We might as well. I've been through this forest before. We won't get anywhere when it gets dark" said Sasuke.

"I'm hungry..." said Naruto, his stomach growling.

"This is a good place to set camp, and there's a river nearby. Sakura, you go find some firewood while Naruto and I will go and get water and hopefully catch some fish" Sasuke looked over toward Naruto and smirked, "that is, if Naruto's poor fishing skills don't scare them all off."

"WHAT!! What are you saying? That I can't fish? I'll have you know that I have gotten a lot better! I can fish better than anyone. I can fish so well you're gonna have a hard time keeping up with all the fish that are coming out of the water!" yelled Naruto furiously.

An hour later the three ninja sat around a warm fire enjoying the fish that Naruto had worked so hard in catching.

"So how long do ya think its gonna take to get there?" asked Naruto.

"Well if we start early then we should get there by nightfall tomorrow," replied Sasuke. "We all should take turns standing watch as well."

"I'll take first watch," volunteered Sakura, "I don't mind staying up."

"Uh...alright, I'll take second watch and Naruto can take the third, that way there's no way he'll oversleep," Sasuke stated.

"WHAT!! What did you say Sasuke? That only happened once! And it wasn't my fault! It was my alarm clock! It didn't go off on time," yelled an annoyed Naruto.

"There aren't any alarm clocks out here you know. What do you do when you're on a mission, huh?," replied Sasuke coolly.

"I'm a completely different person when I'm on a mission!!!!"

"Tch. Whatever."

"WHAT!!!? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!!!? WHY YOU..."

---------------

After much arguing the two ninja went to bed and Sakura went and sat by the crackling campfire. The dancing flames created ghostly shadows through the forest, but Sakura wasn't scared, she enjoyed sitting outside at night, in the peaceful darkness. A soft breeze wove itself through the trees and bushes making them sigh with contentment. Sakura looked up and saw shining stars peeking through the canopy above. "_This is going to be one interesting mission_" she thought.

Meanwhile...

Sasuke lay in his sleeping bag, restless. He knew he couldn't go to sleep. If he did that Voice would come back. He hated to admit it but the Voice scared him. Any other enemy he could see or in someway perceive, however the Voice was ambiguous. He didn't know who or _what_ it was. He had no idea where it came form or what it was going to do. He couldn't fight it. The Voice had invaded his mind, like a bodiless being or some sort of a presence. He could feel it read his every thought but he was defenseless against the intrusion. This _Voice_ just took over his mind and body from time to time, usually while he was sleeping. The bridge was the first time the Voice had taken over during the day. From what Sasuke could tell whatever the Voice was it was getting stronger, but he still had no way to fight it. From the last conversation Sasuke assumed that not only could the Voice consume his mind, but if it got any stronger it would be able to take over his body. Although he had killed many enemies before, Sasuke wasn't too keen on killing any of his friends, like the Voice intended on doing.

Sasuke refrained form sleeping for as long as possible. But he realized how feeble his attempt was when he felt the familiar feeling of drowning in an endless pit of darkness and large the thunderclouds fogging his mind, completely cutting him off from the rest of the world.

---------------------------------------------Sasuke's Mind---------------------------------------------

"Welcome back little one" the Voice said with an evil chuckle.

"Who are you? What do you want?" asked Sasuke.

"You still don't know who I am do you?"

"I don't care who the hell you are, just get out of my head!"

"No. I like it here. This position is the best for what I have planned."

"Planned? What do you want with me?"

"First of all I want you to kill that pink-haired bitch."

"What!? Why! How is killing her going to help your plans?"

"It's not. She's just in the way. Plus I know how you feel about her. You can't hide anything from me."

"What are you jabbering on about? Why don't you face me and fight me like a man?"

"Hahaha. I see. You'll do anything to protect those pathetic people you call friends. Alright then I'll fight you."

The thunderclouds around Sasuke gathered in a tall whirlwind and a human-like figure materialized. Sasuke could just barely see him. The Voice stayed hidden in the shadows. "You wanted to fight" he said, "let's fight."

Before Sasuke could react to the words he felt his body being viciously attacked, however he couldn't even sense the figure's movements, not even with his sharingan. "It's no use resisting me. I can read all of your thoughts, I know what you're going to do before you do it!"

_Damn it. Then I have no chance..._

--------------

Sakura was still enjoying the peaceful quiet of the night when she heard something rustle. She looked up and turned to look at the direction where the sound came from. She heard it again and realized that it was coming from inside the tent. She was just about to go take a look when Naruto came running out.

"Sakura-chan! Sakura-chan! Sasuke is having another seizure. I tried waking him up but its not working. Something's wrong."

Sakura ran into the tent and looked at Sasuke. He was shaking violently and muttering. She went over to him and sat down, taking his head in her lap. "Naruto stand watch for now. I'm going to try and find out what wrong with him."

"Uhh. Right." Naruto turned and left the tent. Sakura put her hands on Sasuke's temples and emitted a green glow. She gasped as she felt her mind being drawn into Sasuke's mind. _::Sasuke's Mind::_ For a second all she could see was a mass of thunderclouds but then her vision cleared. She saw Sasuke's body lying in a pool of his own blood. His body was covered with deep gashes and wounds that were still oozing blood. Sakura ran up to him and put her fingers on his neck. _tha-thump...tha-thump..._Sakura let out a sigh. He was still alive, she could still heal him. She didn't waste time in putting her hands on his chest to start and close up the wounds.

"unhh..." Sasuke moaned painfully when he felt cold hands touch his chest. He opened his eyes and looked over at Sakura. "...Sakura... what are you doing here?... you have to get out...he'll kill you..."

Sakura looked at him worriedly. "I'm not leaving you alone." Sasuke fainted from the loss of blood.

"How'd you get in here?" the Voice said coldly.

Sakura gasped and turned around. Her eyes widened, "You're..."

**A/N: I am soooooooooooo very extreamly sorry for making everyone wait so long!!! Truly I am!! I tried to make up for that by making this one longer. But I am getting very little motivation. Im pretty sure more ppl read this than the amount of reviews im getting. So please review!!...and tell me do you want me to continue this story or should i cancel it??**

**TO MY AMAZING REVIEWERS!!!!!!!!**

**CherryBlossoms016: im so happy you think its interesting!!! Im sorry you had to wait for an update. **

**X-AMAYA-CHAN-X: wow i haven't talked to you in forever!! Sorry for the wait. I hope this kinda got rid of the confusion. I hope you liked this chapter!**

**Kakashi500: thanks soo much for the review. Im glad you liked it. Sorry i didn't update sooner...but this one is longer than most right...? ill try to update sooner next time.**

**Shadow Lunis: Im soo sorry i didn't update sooner. Major writers block!! I'll do better next time. Lol. You want me to kill Naruto?? ...yea I guess he is kinda in the way a lil... ill see if i can get rid of him somehow...**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: **Story mine, Naruto not mine.

_Italics equal thoughts/flashbacks_

**Is it just me or is anyone else having trouble getting alerts from fanfiction? Please let me know cuz its driving me nuts!**

**Recap: **Sasuke is having another seizure-like episode. Sakura tries to use her medic-nin-justu to help but is sucked into his mind instead. She finds Sasuke practically bleeding to death. He faints form the loss of blood and Sakura faces the Voice's true form.

**Chapter 5**

-----...still in Sasuke's mind-----

"How'd you get in here?" the Voice said coldly.

Sakura gasped and turned around. Her eyes widened, "You're...Itachi! B-but you're _dead_…Sasuke killed you!" Sakura said with a twinge of fear and confusion.

"Hn. Hahaha you're so naive, I wonder what he sees in you," Itachi mused.

All of Sakura's senses were on alert, she could practically feel the danger emanating form him. '_Where am I, what is this place? And where did Itachi come from, and what does he mean 'what Sasuke sees in me?' If this were Sasuke's dream or even a seizure I should have been able to soothe it in a second. Could it be an illusion? If it is, it's impossible to detect. But just to be safe...'_ Sakura formed a hand seal and called out, "Release!"

Nothing happened. Everything was still in its place. '_So this so called 'illusion' is real. But how? This doesn't make any sense. Well, understanding this place is gonna have to wait. I have to get Sasuke out of here fast.' _She turned her attention back to Sasuke's wounds to finish closing them up. She only paid attention to the most critical cuts and gashes, saving the scrapes and bruises for later once they were safe.

Itachi made no move, "It's pointless, You can't escape me. Now you're trapped in here as well."

"What sort of a twisted dream is this? What's going on?" asked Sakura, standing up any indication of fear suddenly gone. She had finished closing all the wounds and regenerated some of the blood that was lost. Sasuke was out of critical danger for now. _Something is definitely wrong here. Did he just read my thoughts? _

"I have to applaud your impeccable timing. I was just telling my brother over there how I would be killing you off first. But you see, in order to do that I would have had to take over Sasuke's body and then forced him to attack you. However, you most graciously came to me, saving me both time and energy. For that I'll be sure to make your death quick and painless. " Itachi smiled a cold wicked smile. Then right before Sakura's eyes he disappeared.

'_He's too fast for me to follow.'_ Sakura quickly formed a series of hand seals and let chakra flow form her hands forming a dome-like barrier, around Sasuke and herself.

Itachi laughed again, "A futile effort. You can't possibly hope to beat me with that."

Sasuke stirred and tried to sit up. A violent cough shook his entire body causing him to lie back down. Sakura looked back and said, "Sasuke-kun please don't move. You're not completely healed yet. I will get you out of here."

"Impossible…," he said his voice groaning with pain, "Sakura, save yourself. Get out of here while you still can."

"I'm not leaving you." Sakura said determined to protect him for once.

"Sasuke, you've become weak, and soft. Have you forgotten my words to you?" asked Itachi, "'Hate, detest and live in a way that is unseemly, that is the only way you will ever beat me.' You showed promise in the beginning but now your heart is weak. Your _feelings _toward this girl, they hold you back. Now you and this girl are both going to die."

Out of nowhere came a huge ball of flame, aimed straight at Sakura. She gasped. The ball of flame hit the barrier and was absorbed. Sakura smiled, "This barrier is my own technique. It will absorb anything you throw at it. You can't break it so easily."

Itachi growled, "We'll see about that." He came at the barrier with a large sword. He struck the barrier, causing a resounding echo to boom through the dark clouds. The sword began to glow and hiss, making steam come out of the barrier.

"My barrier is draining you of all your chakra," Sakura said with a deadly edge, "In a few seconds you won't have any left. I can tell that you only had a little to begin with."

Itachi could feel his strength leaving him. His sharingan wore off and he leaped back, away from the barrier.

"Well meet again," he snarled. He reached his hand up calling forth a lightning-like bolt of light. His image was lost in the blinding flash.

The dark clouds began to dissipate and Sakura felt like she was falling.

----------

Sakura flew back hitting the wall of the tent. She groaned, and sat up, rubbing her shoulder. _That was strange. I'm back at the campsite. Just what was that place?_

Sasuke sat up coughing and shaking. _This had been the worst one yet. I almost lost all control over my body. Damn that Itachi! How the hell is he able to affect me like this even if he's dead? What the hell did he do to me? If it weren't for Sakura I'd have...SAKURA! How did she get into my mind? Did he hurt her?_ Sasuke looked over to his left and saw Sakura slowly getting to her feet.

"Sakura...?" he called out to her, straining his voice. He felt weak, his muscles screamed with pain, every nerve was on fire.

"Sasuke-kun! Are you all right? Don't move, let me heal you first." Sakura rushed over to Sasuke and put her hands to his chest. She gasped. _There's not a single scratch on his body. But that can't be! Just moments ago he was on the verge of death! What the hell is going on?_ Sakura let green chakra flow from her hands and into Sasuke's body. She gasped again. _Everything is torn up inside! What the hell is going on? _

----------

An hour later Sakura took her hands off of Sasuke's chest. She was able to fully restore his injured body however she had used up every ounce of chakra she had. Slowly, she got up. Her head was spinning and her arms were trembling.

Sakura looked at Sasuke's peaceful face. '_He's asleep,'_ she smiled and turned to leave. She was stopped by Sasuke's hand grabbing her wrist. She looked back at him.

"Are you alright?" he asked her in a hoarse whisper, "He didn't hurt you did he?"

Sakura smiled softly, she was touched by his concern, "No, I was able to escape. Sasuke-kun you need to rest right now but you have to tell me what's going on tomorrow."

"Hn…" Sasuke looked away and let go of her wrist.

Sakura gave him a small look of concern and turned to leave, this wasn't the time to argue. Just as she was about walk out of the tent she heard Sasuke mumble something. It was barely audible but she distinctly heard him whisper, "Thank you". Sakura's felt her face heat up a little and she felt pleased. She continued out of the tent in search of Naruto.

"Naruto!" she called out.

Naruto came rushing over to her, "What is it, Sakura-chan! How's Sasuke doing?" Naruto's eyes widened when he saw Sakura's weak from. She was breathing heavily and sweat dripped from her head. Her knees buckled and she fell forward.

"Ahh!! Sakura-chan!! What's wrong? What happened?" Naruto asked as he stepped forward to catch her.

"It's nothing. I just used up too much chakra while healing Sasuke. He's gonna be fine. He just needs to rest." Sakura replied, trying to stand up again, "Naruto I don't think I will be able to stand watch anymore. You're gonna have to do it."

"Just leave it to me!" said Naruto with a big grin.

Sakura gave him a small smile and made her way over to her sleeping bag and went straight to sleep. Naruto and turned and left the tent. _What am I gonna do all night. Dammit Sasuke you just had to get sick while we're on a mission? You need to get better fast._

----------

"Hurry up Naruto," Sasuke said to him, "at this rate we're going to miss the ferry."

While Sasuke and Sakura were able to get back all their strength, Naruto was up all night, causing him to be very tired and slow the next day. It was almost lunchtime and their ferry was going to leave in one hour. They had already left the forest and were about to enter the village were they were to board the ferry.

"Shut up Sasuke-teme!" yelled Naruto angrily, "You weren't the one who was up all night!"

"You guys stop fighting," Sakura tried to calm them down. "We'll make it to the ferry on time. Naruto try to keep up with us for now and then you can sleep on the boat."

"Fine let's go." Naruto mumbled, still half asleep and too tired to argue.

The traveled the rest of the distance to the village and over to the port. Their ferry was a large white boat that could have easily held a hundred people.

"Kakashi said that Minake-san would come up to us right?" asked Naruto looking up at the very large ferry. _This is no ferry, it's more like a ship! I wonder how she is going to find us._

"Yea, we shouldn't keep her waiting so let's board already," said Sakura.

The three of them proceeded to board the ferry. On the boat all of the workers were running around getting ready to take off. Naruto looked around and found exactly what he was looking for. He walked over to a pair of cushioned seat, sat down and promptly fell asleep.

Sasuke walked over to the edge of the ship and looked over the side into the water. His mind was tense, filled with thought of last night's occurrences. If it weren't for Sakura, there was no telling what Itachi would have done. He thought that he had finally killed his brother, that he was free of his shadow, but he was wrong. Somehow Itachi managed to come back form his grave to haunt and torture him. Sakura wouldn't be there to save him every time. He had to find a way to get rid of his brother and fast.

"Sasuke-kun?" Sakura brought Sasuke out of his thoughts.

"What?" asked with an annoyed tone. He wasn't really annoyed but it would be unlike him to answer any other way. Itachi had told Sakura too much about his feelings toward her, and he had to make sure that she didn't the wrong impression…or was it the right impression? _Damn I'm so confused._

"Sasuke-kun, last night…" Sakura trailed off, "Last night was more than a dream. Itachi was real." Sasuke tensed at his brother's name but Sakura continued. "He's not dead is he? Please tell me what is going on. Is…" her face heated up as she recalled Itachi's words, "Is it true…what he said about me?"

"It was nothing," he replied. _Damn, she's starting to figure it out._ Her very presence was making him uncomfortable; she was able to read his emotions even though he kept his face blank. Since they had spent so much time together as Team 7, Sakura knew everything about him and the little she didn't know she was able to figure out. Unlike Naruto, Sakura was very smart and was able to pick up on little things and put them together.

"What do you mean it was nothing!" she said slightly annoyed, "You were almost beaten to death while you were asleep and I know its not that easy to beat you. Further more, you didn't have a single scratch on your body but your muscles were all torn, and there was something unsettling about your mind. Kind of like when Ino used the mind transfer jutsu on me, only a lot stronger. I think Ita-"

"I said it was _nothing_," Sasuke cut her off angrily, "It's none of your business."

"Fine," Sakura turned on her heel and left. She was hurt. She had been so worried about him and he wouldn't even tell her what happened to him. '_Itachi was wrong. He's still the same Sasuke, he has no feelings for anyone,' _she thought bitterly. She suppressed a tear and looked up at the sky. _I wonder if he will ever learn to love anyone._

_--_

Sasuke watched Sakura turn and walk over to the other side of the ship. She leaned over the side of the railing and look up at the sky. Sasuke could see that her eyes were glittering in the sun and she was trying hard to suppress those tears.

'_Tch. She's so annoying. Why can't she just mind her own business? Then she wouldn't have her feelings hurt so much. Damn her, now I have to go apologize. Why do I even bother? It's not like I care. But it's not like I can just leave her like that. Since when did I become such a softy? Maybe I do have feelings for her. I mean, she's pretty, trustworthy, strong, and it's not like she's that annoying. In fact she hasn't tried to ask me out for awhile now. What if she doesn't like me anymore?... What the hell, I sound like I'm in love with her or something…NO!! I like her, but only as a friend. Yea...heh heh that's it…only as a friend.'_

_'If that's true, then why does she make me feel so uncomfortable and self-conscious every time she's near me?'_ Sasuke asked himself, a little stunned at his own rebellious question. He shook his head as if to dislodge the thought and bury in the dark depths of his mind.

He sighed and took his weight off the railing. He decided that he didn't want Sakura to be upset over something so stupid, so he would just talk to her. Using that logic as his excuse, he walked over to where Sakura was standing, her back facing him.

"Sakura..." he started, Sakura turned around a little surprised, "Sakura, I..." He looked away. He couldn't do it. He was an Uchiha, he just couldn't swallow his pride and apologize. It would have been unnatural for him to do so. So instead he just slightly turned away from her, hoping she would get the message.

'_Is he trying to apologize?' _Sakura was stunned. For Sasuke to actually attempt to apologize was like getting Choji to go on a diet. It was near impossible. _'Wow. Maybe I was wrong. Maybe he does have a heart.'_

Sakura decided to save Sasuke some embarrassment since he had made such a clear effort to apologize. "It's ok Sasuke-kun. I guess I understand that you want to keep things private. It's just…" she turned to face him, "I wish you would let me help you sometimes. If there's a problem maybe I could help you solve it, and if not, just be able to listen and share your pain a little. I mean, at the very least, I want to be your friend. That's all I ask."

At those words Sasuke turned to look at her. Sakura had definitely changed. Before she would have started crying or squealing at the slightest of things. Now she had a stronger control over her emotions. Her demeanor only gave away what she wanted to convey. He could see it in her eyes and how she held herself. She was not only physically stronger but mentally as well.

'_She said 'at least' does that mean she would like to be more? And why does that make me feel good' _

Sasuke's mind had just been thrown into a deep sea of confusion. It wasn't like him to suddenly fall in love with a girl he thought of as annoying for so long. Although he did admire that no matter how many times he had turned her down, she had never lost hope or determination and even went to the extent of training harder just so that she could help him. He remembered that he had once thanked her because she had been trying so hard to help him even though it was practically pointless. He had thanked her because he felt that he had let her down and crushed her dreams. But she didn't give up as he had expected, instead kept her going and worked harder. It reminded him of Naruto's determination as well as his own. It was one thing he had in common with them, the one thing he could relate to: fighting for something you want. He admired her spirit and the fact that she didn't lose sight of her dream. But could that admiration have become an infatuation without him knowing it?

Sasuke looked up. He had been staring into space for a few minutes now. He looked at Sakura again. She had turned away to look up at the soft, white clouds hanging in the sky. Sasuke picked up his arm and reached out to her. He was just about to place his hand on Sakura's shoulder when a tall girl bounced up to him.

"Hiya cutey!!" she said in a high pitched voice, "Are you Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke quickly dropped his hand and turned to the girl. She had long chestnut hair that fell just beneath her elbow. She was dressed in a hot pink tank top and brown capris.

"And you must be Haruno Sakura!!" she gasped, "Wow its cool to finally meet you guys. Hi! My name is Kaeru Minake!!"

**A/N: **so i tried to keep Sasuke in character as much as i could. That's what took this update soo long. I'm sorry if he's too OOC. I tried my best. --

Well what did ya think? Good? Bad? I plan on having some **fluff** soon. Either next update or the one after... how ever it works out.

**QUESTION??? Is Itachi too OOC. Cuz i think he is a little and i want to fix that. Reviewers help me out!!**

**UP NEXT: **They finally met Minake! What new information will she give them? And what the hell does Itachi have to do with anything? Also, does Sasuke love Sakura or does he just like her as a friend?

**TO MY READERS:**

**Brenu & Kakashi500: **Sorry if this wasn't fast enough but i was having a hard time making sasuke realize his feelings. Damn he's soo cold hearted and distant. Jeez he doesn't give me much to work with. Well tell me how i did. n.n

**X-AMAYA-CHAN-X: **yay i met my deadline!!! Are you getting alerts from fanfiction. net? Because im not getting any review alerts, PMs or story alerts? Is it just me or is it everyone? Its driving me crazy!!! Please review and lemme know. Cuz if you PM me i probably won't get it. THANKS SOOO MUCH!!! 3 3 3


	7. Chapter 6

Chap 7

**A/N: **I'm sorry. Feel free to yell at me for not updating in so long. My only excuses are writer's block and school. Please forgive me and I hope I didn't lose any of my readers/ reviewers.

Well the good stuff is beginning now but my writer's block isn't completely gone so hopefully it will turn out okay.

READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS READ THIS!!!!

Ages:

Sasuke-17

Sakura-17

Naruto-17

Minake-14

----------------------------

**Recap:** Sasuke's been having seizure like episodes where he gets trapped in own his mind by Itachi. But how can that be when Itachi's dead? They are on a ship, on their way to the Mist Village where they finally meet the elite spy, Minake. And Sasuke's fighting an internal battle with himself about how he feels about Sakura.

----------------------------

"Hiya cutey!!" she said in a high pitched voice, "Are you Uchiha Sasuke? And you must be Haruno Sakura!!" she gasped, "Wow its cool to finally meet you guys. Hi! My name is Kaeru Minake!!"

The girl was tall and had long brown hair that fell to her elbows. She wore a hot pink tank top and brown capris. Sakura and Sasuke couldn't help but stare at her; despite her height, the girl looked like she was only ten!

"Here, look!" she said handing them a badge. Minake had produced an ID badge that confirmed her identity as a Konoha ANBU, elite spy.

Sasuke looked at Sakura, who nodded. The badge was no fake; this little girl was really an elite spy.

Sakura looked at Minake with a scrutinizing eye and then glanced at Sasuke. Sasuke seemed unfazed by her very first comment, but Sakura had become slightly annoyed. _How dare you call him cute!? If you weren't the elite spy we were waiting for I'd rip you to shreds!_

"Kakashi-sensei told us not to be surprised but I wasn't expecting this." Sakura muttered.

"Hey!! Aren't there supposed to be three of you?" Minake asked, looking around wildly, "Where's the other one?"

As if he was right on cue, Naruto walked up to them yawning, "Who's the brat making all this noise? I can't sleep in this racket!"

"Naruto this is Minake-san. The person we were sent to meet," Sakura explained.

"What? This ten-year-old is an elite?" asked a bewildered Naruto.

"Eh!? I'm not ten! I'm fourteen!" Minake screeched at him.

"Well you could have fooled me!" Naruto shot back.

"You guys should keep your voices down, we're attracting attention," Sakura hissed at them.

"She started it!" "He started it!" both Naruto and Minake said at the same time and then glared at each other.

Sakura looked at the two not knowing how she and Sasuke would survive the rest of the trip.

----------------------------

The Mist Village's beautiful marshes and gardens attracted many tourists. The streets of the Mist Village were lined with souvenir vendors calling out the prices of various items that could be purchased.

"Here we are!!" Minake said enthusiastically as they approached a large hotel. "I got here yesterday morning so I rented two rooms for all of us."

The interior of the hotel was very luxurious. The floors were lined with a velvety, crimson carpet and the walls were tall and white with large scenic paintings of various gardens and flowering trees. In the center of the main lobby there was a large beautiful fountain. The water flowing from it was crystal clear and glowed different colors.

"Oh. It's so beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed.

"The Mist Village is known for its beauty. There are more fountains all around. That's why I love it here so much," Minake explained excitedly, "There's a swimming pool, games, gardens and tons of other stuff. There's also a really good diner in here. They have the _best_ food ever!"

"Do they have ramen?" asked Naruto suspiciously.

"Mm-hmm," said Minake, "It's really good. You guys should have some tonight! My treat!"

After everyone agreed to eat at the diner that night Minake showed them to their rooms.

"This here, is my room and the other room is right next door, so if we need anything from each other all we have to do is knock! As for who is going to stay where...," Minake grinned, "Sasuke-kun you're staying with me in my room! Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun can have the other room." Minake latched on to Sasuke's arm.

"Huh?" said Sasuke and pulled away from Minake. _What the hell is wrong with this girl? _"Don't touch me," he said rather coldly.

"Aww, don't be so mean," Minake pouted, "You are my roommate after all. You're so cute!!"

Before Sasuke could even say one word of protest Sakura yelled, "He's not going to be you roommate. I am. There's no way I'm letting him stay with you!"

"Huh? And why not," Minake looked at Sakura and pouted even more and then eyes lit up in realization, "Oh I get it. You're Sasuke-kun's girlfriend aren't you?" Minake turned to Sasuke and said, "Really Sasuke-kun you could do so much better! Like me!"

Sakura turned red and a vein popped in her heads. It took all her self-control to stop herself from sending Minake flying, "I'm NOT his girlfriend!" Sakura yelled _I'm going to kill this brat! Does she really think she has a better chance with Sasuke? Not even in her dreams. NOT even over my dead body. This brat is going to die!_

"It's unseemly for a girl to room with a guy. The two of us will room together and the two of them will room together. You got that?" said Sakura decisively.

"mm...Fine," Minake said dejectedly. Just a fast as her frown had appeared it went away and was replaced by a smile, "Come on! Come on! Hurry up you guys! Get settled in! I have so much to tell you all. And I want to hear your story too! See y'all in twenty minutes!"

Minake turned and happily bounced into her room. Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto stared after her, surprised at how Minake's attitude could change so quickly.

"She's even more energetic than me," said Naruto in disbelief.

Sakura stalked off into her room, grumbling and dumped her stuff on the floor, while Sasuke and Naruto went into their own room.

The rooms were simple, with a TV, two beds, a mini fridge, bathroom and sink. Naruto threw his stuff into a corner and flopped down on his bed. He propped himself up on his elbow and grinned at Sasuke. Sasuke put his stuff down in the corner and looked at his teammate.

"What?" Sasuke asked annoyed with Naruto's goofy grin.

"She likes you," Naruto stated.

"Who? Minake?"

"Yea she like you too but that's not who I'm talking about. I'm talking about Sakura-chan. Didn't you see how jealous she was?"

"No." Sasuke replied. '_When did he become so intelligent?' _Sasuke thought sarcastially,_ 'This idiot can barely tell left from right and already he's dictating who likes who. What a moron. Why would Sakura be jealous?' _

"Well, she was," Naruto replied, lying back down on his bed.

"Hn. Whatever."

"The entire time you were gone, all she did was think about you. When you came back you told her 'If you'd use half the time you're hovering around me maybe you wouldn't be such a weak ninja. Go be useful for a change,' and that's exactly what she did. She's a lot stronger now, but that doesn't mean she doesn't like you anymore. She just doesn't want to show it," explained Naruto.

"Hn," Sasuke frowned and lay down on his bed. _Did I really say that to her? I sound like such a jerk. But I wouldn't put it past myself, I probably did say that. I would never say something like that again though. How is it that Naruto suddenly gained so much knowledge on Sakura's feelings? It really doesn't sound like him._

"Who told you to say something like that?" Sasuke asked.

"Huh? Say what? No one told me to say anything about anyone. I don't know what you're talking about," Naruto panicked.

Sasuke smirked, "Don't lie. I can see right through it. Who was it?"

Naruto laughed nervously knowing he was caught in the lie, "It was Hinata-chan. She told me that Sakura-chan still loves you and as your friend, I should help you see that."

Sasuke didn't reply. Unlike Naruto, Hinata's information was more reliable. He was slightly pleased that Sakura still had feelings for him.

"Hey, Sasuke?"

"What."

"Do you like Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke didn't have an answer to that. It was the one question he had been avoiding ever since he had seen her training in the hidden training field. _Do I like her? She's pretty. I'll give her that. She has a big forehead but I guess I've gotten used to it. She isn't as annoying anymore either; in fact she's better company than most people. And she's very determined. I'll admit I've treated her very badly in the past, yet she always seems to see past that side of me. But I still don't know...do I care for her?_

"Well...?" asked Naruto impatiently, "do you or do you not like her?"

"uh...I-," Sasuke was saved from further explanation by a knock at the door.

"Hey you guys ready yet? I have something to tell you, remember?" called a bubbly voice that could be no other than Minake's, "Come on hurry up already!!"

"Alright, we're coming," said Naruto grumbling, "You have to be so loud about it?"

A few minutes later everyone was gathered around a small table in Minake and Sakura's room. Minake locked the door to the room and closed the window shutters. Then she placed her hands on the walls of the room. A faint red glow emanated from her hands and flowed over the surface of the walls. The strange light flowed over the ceiling and the floor. Then it pooled around the window and door, becoming a darker shade of red in those areas. When the light had covered every corner of the room Minake took her hands away from the walls and went back to the table and sat down.

"W-what was that?" asked Naruto, unnerved, "What did you just do?"

"Oh that?" asked Minake, "Standard procedures. I forgot you all don't normally work with the ANBU do you?" When they all shook their heads she continued, "That jutsu that I just performed prevents anyone from the outside from eavesdropping. It also creates a small barrier so it harder for others to get inside. It's a technique many spies use. Now, on to business."

Once again Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura found themselves staring at the young girl in front of them. In a split second she had gone from an excited lollipop to a commanding officer.

"Is something the matter?" she asked, noticing the stares she was getting.

"How can you be so hyper one second and so focused the next?" asked Naruto pointing an accusing finger at her.

"I'm a spy," Minake replied, "It's my duty to go unnoticed, and to meld into my surroundings. In the Mist Villagethere are many tourists so I act like an excited little girl, which, might I remind you, I am. Whoever said it was a crime to be your self if it helps out a mission? However, when it comes to business I'm no slacker. Now then, anymore objections?"

The three jounin were amazed at the girl's abilities. She was only fourteen and she was a master spy. Any doubt any of them had was wiped away by that single last comment.

"Good, now you all are here because we are to spy and gather information on a man called Otonashi, that and to stop his plans by any means necessary," Minake looked at them and continued, "From the information I have gathered yesterday I have learned that, Otonashi is recruiting members to join his organization. Most of the members come from groups of gangs that reside all over the country. The gangs have been gathering every other night at local taverns. The next meeting will be tomorrow night at a place called the Ram's Head. Why they are gathering is still unknown. The location of Otonashi's base also seems to be unknown. Unfortunately this was all the information I was able to gather. Now I would like to hear your side of the story. Who exactly is Otonashi?"

"You figured all that out in less than one day?" asked Sakura wide-eyed, "That's impressive!"

Minake grinned at her, "It's m'job to do it! But seriously, Kakashi-san told me Otonashi has a personal grudge against you all. I would like to know, who exactly is this guy and what connection does he have with you?"

"It's more of a personal grudge against me," said Sasuke, "I killed his partner, Uchiha Itachi, who was also my brother. Otonashi was left without anything. No doubt he wants some sort of revenge against me. Other than that, all we know is that Otonashi was Itachi's right hand man. While working with the Akatsuki, Itachi was able to go around the Blood Bind Oath's requirements through him. It seems like they may have had some plans that I might have foiled."

"I see," said Minake, "So they might either be carrying out Itachi's plan or trying to gather more power. I personally think it might be a combination of both. Is there anything else to be said?"

When everyone shook their heads Minake continued, "Alright, I'm going to be sending a report to the Hokage later today informing her of your arrival. You all should do the same for Kakashi-san. Also, for the rest of today until tomorrow morning you all are free to do as you please. Keep your ears and eyes open and make sure not to attract too much attention to yourselves. Also remember tonight's dinner is on me at the diner! So don't be late 'kay?"

All four ninja's looked at each other and nodded in understanding. They got up to leave when Minake cried, "Oh! Sasuke-kun! I hope you know that I was telling the truth before! You really are very cute! And you could do a lot better than girls with such big foreheads. Would you like to go swimming with me? There's this really big pool downstairs. It'll be lots of fun!"

Sakura's eyes were throwing daggers at Minake. Her face was red with anger and humiliation. No one had ever insulted her in front of her friends so forwardly. Not even Ino would humiliate her like that. Sakura stood up and stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind her.

"I don't care who you are but you can't go around insulting Sakura-chan like that!" yelled a very angry Naruto, "Why I-"

"Naruto," Sasuke cut Naruto off and turned to Minake, "First of all, stop calling me cute. It's annoying. Second, stop insulting my teammates. It's rude. And third I'm not going to go swimming with you or anywhere else unless it has to do with the mission so stop asking."

"Aww, Sasuke-kun you're so mean!" Minake whined then her eyes widened, "Was I really being mean to Sakura-chan?"

Sasuke looked at her. Was she serious? She really didn't seem to realize that what she had said was hurtful. Sasuke glared at her.

"Hmm...I guess I'll just have to apologize to her later then!" she smiled happily, "Well, I guess I'll see you all in two hours for dinner 'kay?" and with that she bounced out of the room as well.

------------------------------

Naruto and Sasuke had been searching for Sakura all evening but they couldn't find her anywhere. They had looked through all the gaming areas, the pool, the diner, and even the streets. They finally started searching the garden but quickly realized that it would be near impossible finding her there. The garden was a maze of many different gardens all connected, a person could easily get lost for hours. Sasuke looked around and finally found a large pole labeled 'Visitor Information'. He walked over to the pole and picked up a map of the maze and continued on with the search.

Sasuke finally found Sakura sitting on a bench in front of the fountain in the center of the maze. He and Naruto walked up to her. If either of them noticed that her eyes were slightly puffy from crying neither showed it.

"Uh...Sakura-chan?" Naruto sat down next to her, "Are you alright?"

Sakura turned her head away from him and said, "I'm fine. Just leave me alone."

"If you're fine, why are you so upset?" Naruto pressed.

"I'm _fine_," she said gritting her teeth.

"Heehee...," Naruto grinned, "Could it be...Sakura-chan's jealous of Minake-san?"

Sakura's face heated up and she could feel the blush on her face, "Jealous? I'm _NOT _jealous! Why should I be jealous?" she spluttered.

Sasuke smirked. He could see that Sakura was lying, she _was_ jealous. For some reason he was slightly satisfied that Sakura was annoyed with Minake, it proved that she still cared. But Sasuke was also irritated. Sakura was upset because of what Minake had said; he would make sure that she apologized to Sakura.

"Sakura-chan's jealous! Sakura-chan's jealous," Naruto teased in a sing-song voice. By this time Sakura's face had turned so red, it was a wonder she wasn't breathing fire. Sasuke decided to act before things started to get out of hand.

"Naruto. Go back to the diner and tell Minake-san we're on our way. It's already been two hours and she's expecting us," said Sasuke, cutting off Naruto's infernal singing.

"Oh. That's right," said Naruto, "But what about you and Sakura-chan? Aren't you coming?"

"Naruto just go," said Sasuke, really irritated now, "We'll meet you there."

"Got it," Naruto said and leapt off.

"I'm not going," said Sakura as soon as Naruto was out of earshot.

"Not even if I ask you to?" asked Sasuke.

Sakura's head whipped up and she met Sasuke's eyes. She was surprised to find that they were almost warm and caring and not the stone cold orbs she was used to seeing. Sakura looked back down trying to hide the blush creeping up her face.

Sasuke smirked again, liking her reaction, "For once I agree with Naruto. You are jealous."

"...I'm not jealous. I..." Sakura fiddled with her words, "I just don't like her...I don't trust her. She may be the leader but there's something wrong with her. I just can't put my finger on it."

"I agree. Minake can't be trusted. But that doesn't stop you from being jealous of her," Sasuke said, not letting Sakura change the subject.

"What makes you say that?" Sakura tried to mask another blush by feigning anger and failing miserably. Sasuke's sharingan helped his normal vision to be very sharp. His eyes could pick up little details that normal eyes would probably miss. Therefore he could see right through Sakura's facade.

"You were pretty quick to defend me back there. You said _you_ wouldn't allow _me_ to room with Minake. You could have said you didn't want to room with Naruto, but that wasn't what was bothering you, was it?" Sasuke took pleasure in watching her squirm uncomfortably, he had caught her in her own lie and she couldn't find a way out.

"You really shouldn't let her cloud your judgment. You're better than that," he continued, "Besides after all these years, you're still the only girl I put up with, did you really think Minake would change that?"

Sakura's eyes widened and her face heated again. She didn't look up. She couldn't. Not only had Sasuke seen right through her lie, he had also complimented her. Sakura wasn't used to this side of Sasuke and couldn't do anything but remain in a shocked silence.

When she didn't respond Sasuke said, "Now let's go before Naruto gets even more lost than he probably already is."

Sakura gave a small laugh and slowly stood up. She looked at Sasuke and gave him a small smile and in a small voice, said, "Thank you."

------------------------------

"Hey!! For a minute I thought you guys weren't going to show. What took you all so long?" Minake asked as Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke entered the diner.

"Gomen, Minake-san," said Naruto, laughing nervously, "I kinda got lost in the maze garden."

"Oh that's ok. I'm glad you're having fun!" she smiled at him. She looked over to Sasuke who glared at her and then to Sakura who avoided eye contact all together. Minake frowned, confused and then said, "Eh!! I almost forgot!"

Minake walked over to Sakura and bowed, "Gomenosai Sakura-chan. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings before. I promise I won't do it again. I really am very sorry." Minake looked up at her with large puppy dog eyes.

Sakura wasn't all too happy about it but decided to accept the apology anyways, "It's alright, I guess. Just, don't do it again."

"Never. I promise," Minake grinned, "Now what would everyone like to order?"

"Ramen! I want ramen!" replied Naruto enthusiastically.

------------------------------

Sakura woke up early the next morning only to find that Minake had already left, leaving a note on the mirror saying 'See ya at the Ram's Head tonight at seven!!'

Sakura plucked the note from the mirror and placed it in her pocked. Next she sat down and wrote the report for Kakashi that she should have written last night.

Once she was done she sealed it in an envelope and stepped out of her room. She walked down the hall and down the stairs of the hotel and was about to leave when someone called out to her. She stopped and turned surprised to see that it was Sasuke who had called her.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun!" she greeted him, her mood a lot better than it had been yesterday.

"Where are you going?" he asked, eyeing the envelope in her hand.

"It's for Kakashi-sensei," explained Sakura following his line of sight, "I'm just going to go and drop it off at the mailing station we passed by yesterday. Do you want to come?"

Sasuke merely nodded. Sakura smiled and started out of the door.

They walked to the mailing station in silence, neither wanting to start a conversation. It was early and there were hardly any people out.

Sakura's thoughts wandered to the events before dinner the day before. Sasuke had been acting very strange. It wasn't like him to care about anyone but himself. _So why does he care now? Why did he go to the trouble to cheer me up yesterday and then walk with me this morning?_

They entered the mailing station and Sakura gave her envelope to a courier and paid the money for a speedy delivery.

"Where was Naruto when we left?" asked Sakura, solely to break the silence.

"Asleep." Sasuke answered.

Sakura frowned and fell silent. One word answers didn't help much in a conversation.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you okay," asked Sakura, "I mean, how are you feeling? I didn't really get to check up on you after that night.

Sasuke didn't answer right away. Sakura thought she had made him angry, but she had been worried about him, plus she didn't want to ask him in front of anyone else either.

"I'm fine. It hasn't happened again and I was able to sleep well for once," Sasuke finally answered, "If it happens again, I'll let you know, so you can stop worrying."

It was a bit rough but Sakura could tell he was trying to be nice so she asked, "For once? Does that mean it's happened before? Does it always happen at night?"

"Yes, and no. It's happened during the day before but it's usually during the night. Can we not talk about this right now?" said Sasuke.

"Oh. Sorry..." Sakura trailed off and fell silent.

Sasuke sighed, "Don't be sorry. You were just worried. I just don't like talking about it."

Sakura was taken aback. "If I didn't know any better I'd wonder where the real Sasuke was. When'd you get to be so nice?"

Sasuke shot her an annoyed glare, "Hn. Don't get used to it."

Sakura couldn't help but let out a small laugh and continued walking back to the hotel.

------------------------------

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto arrived at the tavern a little before seven o'clock. The entrance to the tavern was hidden in a dark shabby alley. The only indication that the tavern existed at all was pale yellow light that spilled through the broken windows.

"Well where is she?" asked Naruto impatiently, "She said she'd be here right?"

"Calm down Naruto. She'll be here," Sakura hushed Naruto. They waited in front of the tavern in the shadows, trying to escape the attention of any passer-bys.

"Hey! You all waiting for me?" Minake bounced up to them, "Well let's go then!"

"Wait! Will they allow you in there?" asked Sakura concerned.

"Just watch," winked Minake. She performed a series of hand signs and right before their eyes Minake's features grew shaper and more mature. The illusion added at least ten years to her original appearance.

"And now for you guys," she repeated the same hand symbols and placed the illusions on the other three jounin. They looked at each other. All three of them had aged but not as much as Minake had. They looked at her with astonishment.

"Now, let's go!" Minake grinned and lead them inside the tavern.

They went in and found an empty booth to sit down at. Minake motioned for Sakura and Naruto to sit on one side while she and Sasuke sat next to each other on the other side. Sakura's eyes flashed with anger and annoyance but she stayed calm. Minake ordered everyone sake, warning them all not to even take a sip.

"You don't want loose tongues tonight," she explained in a barely audible tone, "Keep your eyes and ears sharp and unless absolutely necessary, let me do all the talking. Remember a spy's strength is based off his words and his wit, if you have both the game is in the bag. Now, there's a large group of people just a couple tables behind us. Sasuke-kun and I have the sharpest eyes; therefore we will be watching them for anything suspicious. That's why I had us sit the way we did. Sakura-chan and Naruto-kun, keep your ears sharp and commit everything you hear to memory. And under no circumstance make any eye contact with anyone. If we do get into any trouble keep your faces completely emotionless. Don't convey the slightest bit of fear or surprise. Got it?"

When they all nodded in agreement Minake continued, "Ok, now pay attention to that conversation."

-- _**(if this part is hard to read replace the "d's" with "t's" and read it out loud)**_

"...the bones."

"I says we find 'em all and joins his organization. 'Tis what smart mens would do. Otonashi-sama is gonna lead us to a better future," said a large man in his thirties.

"Naw, a smart man would stays out of dis here conflic'. Dis Otonashi characta' jus trouble like all them others. He'll use ya 'til ya broken an' den hes a gonna throws ya out," said another man.

"Alls I wanna know is, whats he want wiv dem charred bones. Cain't any ol' bones do de trick. Whys he gotta go to all that trouble to fine some dead guys bones in de Ryukon River," asked a younger man.

"Doncha know?" asked the first man.

"Naw dis 'ere lads still green. Don't know much of nuffin,'" laughed a fourth man.

The younger man turned red and said, "Wells one y'all gonna tells me o what?"

"De Ryukon River's de grave fo de mos' darkes' and eviles' of beings. Theys bodies are cremated and den theys ashes are thrown intos dat dere river. Las' I heard da man whose ashes were thrown intos de river killed his entire clan, sparin naught but his poor brother. Turns out 'twas his brother who killed 'em," explained an older man.

"It ain't smart messin wiv folk like dem," said the second.

"Well I'm a gonna joins dat group," said the first, "Whose wiv me?"

Half of the men at the table cheered their agreement.

"Yous a dead man Slick," muttered the second man to the first.

Slick frowned and said, "When I gets power from Otonashi-sama doncha come crawlin' back ta me."

--

Minake motioned to the others that they were going to leave. They got up quietly and were about to leave when one of the men at the table stopped them.

" 'ey yous dere! Who are ye?" he asked while the others turned their heads to get better looks at the disguised Konoha jounin, "I ain't seens you here before"

Minake stepped forward and said, "We's a travlin bunch. We follows de tide of power. Eva heard of de Roamin Wolves?" Minake raised an eyebrow at them. The men at the table stiffened and she continued, "Wes a branch of dem."

"Oh yea. Ya punks is bluffin. Ya cain't be in de Wolves. Ain't gots the strength," said a man from the back.

"Does dis here mark proves it to ya?" Minake raised her right sleeve and showed off a black wolf tattoo.

The crowd quieted in shock and fear. One man ran up to them and fell to his knees at Minake's feet.

"If y'all needs anyfin jus let us know and wes gonna git it for ya," he said. Others behind him nodded their agreement.

"Any y'all know of some character who calls 'imself Otonashi," Minake asked. A couple of the men nodded while the rest just stood, frozen in fear. Minake continued, "Y'all know where we's can find 'im?"

"Uh...uh wells ya see. We's know..." one man started, still scared stiff, "we's know that he's in de marshes somes wheres. Its dem marshes called de Hidden Marsh Valley but we don' know wheres exactly he be. Dey's some scary folk, dey is."

Minake nodded at them and said, "We's gonna take our leave now." She turned on her heel and walked out the door, the others following her lead.

----------------------

"Minake-san that was amazing. What did you do to them back there?" asked Naruto, "Why did they get all scared when you mentioned the 'Roamin Wolves'?"

Minake giggled, "The 'Roamin Wolves' is actually the ANBU network of spies. We gave a branch of the ANBU this special name and reputation as the toughest of all gangs. Whenever the spies of the ANBU are caught in a situation like we just had all we have to do is mention the name 'Roamin Wolves' and they're usually scared silly. In fact I think it was Kakashi-san that started the gang when he got into some trouble one time. After that the Third decided it would help to have a secret network like that."

"Th-That's amazing!" exclaimed Naruto, "Isn't it Sasuke? Huh? Sasuke?"

Sasuke's fists were clenched tightly and thrust into his pockets. His face was hard and his face grim.

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" asked Sakura. She had noticed that Sasuke had stiffened while listening to the conversation in the tavern but it was so slight that she barely noticed. But out here it was more apparent.

"Those bones..." he trailed off, "Those bones are Itachi's."

--------------------

**A/N: **AAHHHH!!! Forgive me!!!! I was already very late in updating and now I missed my deadline by an hour and twenty minutes. IM SOO SORRY!!!!! ;.;

Actually I'm pretty happy with how this chapter turned out. As my apology I made this chapter extra long. TEN PAGES!! WHOOO!!!!

Forgive me if there are typos. I did review it a million times but sometimes I just miss some.

Was Sasuke too OOC? I know he was a little but I didn't know what else to do. Let me know if you don't like him 'kay?

I PROMISE I WILL UPDATE FASTER NEXT TIME. If I don't feel free to send me death threats.

**Thank you tragic-outcast, Shadow Lunis, and Amaya-chan for your very kind reviews on the last chapter!!! ARIGATO!!! bows**


	8. Chapter 7

**A/N: Keep the beginning of Chapter 4 in mind.**

**Chapter 7**

**Last time:**

"Sasuke-kun? What's wrong?" asked Sakura. She had noticed that Sasuke had stiffened while listening to the conversation in the tavern but it was so slight that she barely noticed. But out here it was more apparent.

"Those bones..." he trailed off, "Those bones are Itachi's."

**---------**

Sakura, Naruto and Minake stared at him dumbfounded.

"A-Are you sure?" asked Minake.

Sasuke glared at her and turned and walked deeper into the dark alley.

"Oi! Teme! Where do you think you're going?" cried Naruto, "Ge- "

Sakura clapped her hand onto Naruto's mouth, "Let him go Naruto. He'll be back when he's ready."

"Sakura-chan?" Naruto turned to her, "A-are you sure? What if he..."

"He'll be back," she stated confidently, "Let's go back to the hotel for now."

"Well, now that, _that's_ settled, let's GO! It's almost time!" she said cheerily. She grinned, as if nothing had happened.

"Huh?" Naruto and Sakura turned to look at her, "Time for what?"

"Eh!!?" You mean I didn't tell you!?" Minake slapped her hand to her forehead, "Well that's ok I'll just tell you now!" She put a finger to her lips and whispered, "I have a surprise for you." She winked and turned and started off in the direction of the hotel before either Naruto or Sakura could question her any further.

-----------

Sasuke leapt from rooftop to rooftop until he reached the forest just outside the village. He sat down at the edge of a large tree.

_Damn that Otonashi! What the hell does he want with Itachi's bones? What could he possibly use them for?_

Sasuke let out a frustrated and angry growl. His brain kept asking questions but he couldn't figure out the answers to any of them. It bothered him that someone was hunting his brother's bones. Sasuke had a reason for throwing Itachi's bones in to the Ryuukon River; he didn't want to be reminded of his brother ever again, the memories were too painful. However his so-called seizures and Otonashi seemed to be doing otherwise.

Sasuke had been sitting there thinking for over an hour, when he finally he decided to head back to the hotel; he didn't want Naruto and Sakura to go looking for him.

But as soon as he stood up his vision started to blur and he felt the familiar sensation of sinking. When he could finally see again he was shocked to see that he was still in the same forest that he was in before. He was expecting to be sucked back into the warped dimension in his mind that seemed to be controlled by Itachi, but for some reason he wasn't. This warped dimension was different, it matched his actual surroundings, the others had been cloudy voids.

Sasuke got up again, he had sat back sown when his vision blurred. Sasuke looked around, his senses on alert. To his surprise he saw a little boy just a little bit ahead of him. The boy was half hiding behind a tree. He held a small lantern which gave off a faint yellow light.

Sasuke stared at the boy, he was definitely not ordinary. The boy was so pale, he seemed almost translucent. In fact, the boy's skin gave off an unnerving ethereal glow. The boy was completely dressed in white and even had white hair. It was his eyes that got Sasuke's complete attention. His eyes were two empty black holes, as if the kid were in some sort of stupor or trance.

Sasuke took a few steps toward the ghostly kid and called, "Hey kid! Shouldn't you be in bed?" Not that Sasuke cared, the boy seemed suspicious.

The boy looked at Sasuke and stared. After a moment his eyes widened, as if he just realized Sasuke was there. The boy turned and ran.

Sasuke watched him go, feeling somewhat uneasy. Abruptly, the glowing boy stopped. He turned, and looked at Sasuke, his empty orbs connecting with Sasuke's cold black ones. The boy jerked his head forward, motioning for Sasuke to follow, then continued running away.

Sasuke glared at the boy's diminishing figure. He could have just left, gone back to the hotel and forgotten about the kid, _if_ he didn't feel so compelled to follow.

Sasuke took after the boy. He tried to catch up with him but the boy remained elusively in front of him. As the boy led him deeper and deeper into the forest and Sasuke's sense of urgency became stronger.

Sasuke vaguely noted that the trees in the forest were thinning and the dirt was becoming sandy. The boy continued running, stopping ever so often to look back to make sure Sasuke was still following. Once he made sure, he would jerk his head forward and continue running, leading Sasuke to an unknown destination.

The dirt, now sand, started giving way to a stony foundation, but the boy continued running. Sasuke come to a stop at a three way entrance, to what seemed like a large labyrinth. The boy waited at the middle entrance. Once again his empty eyes connected with Sasuke's, sending a chill running down Sasuke's spine. The boy motioned for Sasuke to follow and disappeared into the dark mouth to the maze, Sasuke followed, his nervousness increasing with each second.

Sasuke followed the boy through endless corridors and hallways. Finally, they came to a door. The boy jerked his head forward, this time telling Sasuke to enter. Sasuke hesitated and then reached out and gripped the door handle. As soon as his fingers connected to the cold metal, Sasuke's stomach tied into a knot and dropped several feet. Annoyed at his own apprehension Sasuke turned the handle and pushed open the door.

The room was dark and empty. Sasuke stepped inside, allowing his eyes to adjust to the darkness. He looked around; then he saw it, a person, a girl tied to a chair. The girl looked up at him. Sasuke's eyes widened with shock.

_Same hair...same eyes...same face...b-but h-how? How..s-she d-died...d-didn't she?_

His legs stopped supporting his body and Sasuke fell to his knees. When he finally found his voice he could only say, "A-Ayumi."

----------

"Good night Naruto-kun!" Minake called little too sweetly from her door and went back inside her room and flopped down onto her bet.

Sakura was having a serious battle raging with her inner self, which kept telling her to take a club to Minake's head until there was no more head left to club. The only reason she restrained herself was because Minake was an important part of this mission, without her the mission would fail. But right now, even that reasoning was failing.

"mmm... When do ya think Sasuke-kun's gonna get back? I miss him...," Minake whined.

"He'll be back when he's ready," Sakura stated rather coldly. She didn't know how much longer she could take of Minake's behavior, stopping herself from punching her into the wall...or next year.

Minake looked up at Sakura, "You really love him don't you?" she asked seriously.

Sakura gave Minake a look that said 'you better believe it and if you knew what was good for you you'd stay away.'

"Hehehe well that's too bad, cuz I love him too," said Minake ignoring Sakura completely, "Heh, I won't lose to you."

Sakura clenched her fist and smirked, "That's cute. You actually think you stand a chance. I've known Sasuke for a long time, he'd never choose you."

"Humph!" Minake crossed her arms and plopped down next to Sakura, "Well we'll see who wins after the surprise."

Sakura looked at Minake confused, "What's the surprise?"

Minake glanced at her watch, "That's why I wanted him to be here...It's nearly time."

"Time for what?"

KABOOOM!!! The building shook causing chips of paint and ceiling to fall.

"What the hell was that?" Sakara and Minake rushed to their door and threw it open ready to fight.

"What _was_ that?" they heard Naruto call from across the hall.

Twenty black orbs appeared in front of them and shinobi clad in black stepped out of them.

Sakura's eyes widened when she felt a sharp pain in her neck. A thin needle was inserted into her vein, poison flowing from the tube attached to it. She turned her head to see who had injected her and came face to face with Minake who was grinning manically.

She leaned forward and whispered, "Surprise."

----------

"Tsunade-sama!" Kakashi burst into the sleeping Hokage's office.

"Huh...Wha...K-Kakashi!" Tsunade said quickly becoming alert at Kakashi's tone and expression.

"Tsunade-sama!" he said again, 'Minake, she's dead!"

The fifth Hokage's eyes widened, "How can you be so sure? I just received a report from her, as well as from Sakura, they both reported things to be going well. Have you received anything that says otherwise?"

Kakashi shook his head, "No. However Minake was a good friend of mine, despite her age she was very intelligent. When we were first assigned for missions together she taught me a secret code that she used on her correspondence papers."

Kakashe handed Tsunade previous correspondence letters. Tsunade looked them over. Her face twisted in confusion, "I don't see a secret code. This is the standard one."

"Exactly. A person who doesn't know where to look won't be able to see it. In fact you are looking right at it. Do you see these stray marks along the page?"

Kakashi pointed to the stray marks, "An unknowing person would think that the writer is just sloppy. However, if I infuse my chakra into the paper..."

Kakashi demonstrated. Tsunade's eyes widened as the stray marks glowed and formed the words, 'All is well. Target located. Pursuit commenced.' When Kakashi took his hands away the word disappeared leaving only the not-so-stray marks and the original message.

"In addition, she sometimes used an invisible ink that only responds to my chakra. No other shinobi can reveal the message," Kakashi continued, "Now take a look at this letter, the one I received this morning."

He handed Tsunade the last report Minake had sent him. "There are stray marks but none that make any sense," Kakashi said solemnly, "But..."

Kakashi infused his chakra into the paper. The marks didn't glow but other parts of the paper did. They formed the words 'Ambush...danger...Otonashi...fallback...Good-bye Kakashi-san.'

"She used the invisible ink to send this last message," said Kakashi sadly. He knew that those were her dying words.

"T-then she's been dead since the beginning of the mission," said Tsunade slowly, still taking in all the information.

Kakashi nodded. They were silent for a minute.

"Let's hope we're not too late," Tsunade said grimly.

**--------**

**.:Flashback:.**

Sasuke puffed his cheeks and crossed his eyes. He stuck his thumbs in his ears and wiggled his fingers in the air.

The little girl in front of him shrieked with laughter and clapped her hands in delight. Her twinkling, coal black eyes matched those of her older brother's as did her long raven colored hair.

Sasuke grinned. He was proud that he was able to make his little sister laugh. He got up and said, "Now I really have to go train. I have to get better at my Katon Jutsus.

Ayumi's eyes widened and large tears formed at their corners, "Sa'ke-nii-chan play!!"

"Tch. You're as annoying as always. I said I have to go train!" Sasuke got up and turned away from the little girl.

Ayumi started to sob silently. Sasuke turned his head a fraction to look back at this little sister. Ayumi reached up and grasped the hem of his shirt and tugged gently.

"Umi come?" she asked, "Pwease Sa'ke-nii-chan? Umi come?"

"Hn," Sasuke replied. He got down on one knee, his back to her. He turned his head to look at her, "Get on."

Ayumi squealed and threw herself onto Sasuke's back.

"Unh," Sasuke made a sound of discomfort as he hefted the little girl up, she wrapped her legs around his stomach and her arms around his neck as tightly as she could and squeaked, "Ai'gato nii-chan."

"Keh kah...you're choking me!"

Ayumi loosened her death hug and rested her head on Sasuke's shoulder. She snuggled in to his neck and sighed contentedly.

Sasuke smiled despite himself and said, "Don't let go."

_But that didn't last long. Itachi...Itachi he...he killed everyone. Okaa-san, Otou-san and...and A-Ayumi. I could barely even find enough of her body to bury...only slashed clothes drenched in blood...thats all that was left of her...of them._

"Sasuke-nii-chan!!" Ayumi's scream brought Sasuke's mind back to the present.

He looked at Ayumi. Her coal black eyes were wide and frantic with fear.

"Sasuke-nii-chan!" she yelled again, "Hurry! Get away! It's a trap!"

**--------**

**Ages:**

_**Present:**_

Sasuke: 17

Ayumi: 12-13

_**Flashback:**_

Sasuke: 7

Ayumi: 2-3

**Ayumi's speech: (she was little so she didn't speak too well)**

Sa'ke-nii-chan: Sasuke-brother

Umi: Ayumi

Ai'gato: Arigato- Thankyou

**Other words:**

Oi: Hey

Teme: bastard

Okaa-san: Mother

Otou-san: Father

Katon Jutsus: Fire style techniques

**A/N: Yes Minake was always meant to be an evil traitor...remember chapter 4??? Well **_**that**_** was the real Minake being killed by the fake one. Actually I was really sad writing Kakashi's scene for this chap...I felt guilty for the good one dying. ;;**

**Also...my internet is going to be disconnected for a while...so no updates til i get it back...;.;...but i promise i will work on the rest of the story.**


	9. Chapter 8

**A/N: I'm late I know...I wouldn't blame you if you tried to kill me. **

**Chapter 8**

"Sasuke-nii-chan" Ayumi yelled, "Hurry! Get away! It's a trap! Your friends, they're being attacked! You need to save them!"

But Sasuke was too shocked to move. All he could do was think '_She's alive! She's alive! My little sister is alive! Ayumi is ALIVE!!_'

"ONII-CHAN!! RUN!!" Ayumi's scream brought Sasuke back to his senses. He had to save her he had to get her out of here. Sasuke got up and ran to her.

"NOO! NII-CHAN RUN! PLEASE!!" she cried pleadingly

"I'm not leaving you," said Sasuke, "Who did this to you?"

"Run...,"said Ayumi one last time looking at him with pleading eyes before her body sagged lifeless.

"A-Ayumi? Ayumi!" Sasuke shook her body, true fear in his voice. Hurriedly he cut the ropes that bound her and lay gently on the floor, "Ayumi? Ayumi!" _She can't be dead! Not after I just got her back! She can't just die!_

"You really are pathetic," Itachi sneered, appearing behind Sasuke.

Sasuke whirled around and met Itachi's blood red eyes with his one deathly glare, "What did you do to her?" he asked menacingly.

Itachi smirked at him, "You still haven't figured it out yet have you? You are once again in my domain; the part of your mind that I have claimed for myself.

"In our final battle you may have destroyed my body, however you failed to destroy my soul along with it. My soul currently resides in you own body. I have been resting within your body, steadily getting stronger."

"Wh-What?" Sasuke asked bewildered.

"You _still_ don't get it? Just like the Jinchuriki is the container for the Kyuubi, you Sasuke, are my container whilst I await my new body."

"I'll destroy you! I won't let you get a new body!" screamed Sasuke

Itachi laughed manically, "You think you can stop me?" Itachi kicked Ayumi's limp form causing her gasp in pain, "She seemed to think that you'd do anything to save her."

"Bastard! You leave her out of this!" yelled Sasuke.

"If you want to save her, find Otonashi, he'll have her. And following her advice wouldn't be too bad either. Well actually, it might already be too late for your friends..." Itachi and Ayumi disappeared in a flight of crows.

Sasuke's eyes jerked open and he found himself to be in front of the very first tree he had sat down at.

'_All of that happened in my mind_!' he realized. '_Then that means he is getting stronger. It also means Sakura and Naruto are probably in trouble._

----

Naruto and his clones tried to fight their way over to Sakura and Minake. But it was proving to be very difficult. The enemy ninja weren't very skilled but the black portals they had used to enter allowed them to teleport to various locations around them at a blinding speed.

"Sakura-chan? Minake-san? Are you alright?" Naruto called.

Sakura was unable to respond to Naruto's call because she was too busy defending herself and trying to remove the poison in her neck.

Although she managed to get some of the poison out, the poison was fact acting and was quickly draining her of all her strength. Minake had disappeared altogether.

Just as Sakura's strength left her, two arms wrapped around her arms and mouth restraining her, "Yer comin' wiv' me lass," growled a ninja lecherously in her ear from behind.

"Sakura-chan!!" Naruto yelled in vain as he witnessed his teammate's abduction.

The ninja clad in black picked up Sakura's limp, unconscious body and retreated into the closest black portal, disappearing from sight.

In Naruto's moment of distraction a ninja had sent a kunai at him directed at his chest. Naruto noticed a second too late, there was no way he would be able to dodge it. He prepared himself to feel the sharp pain in his chest but it never came.

Two shuriken had deflected the kunai and Naruto turned to face his savior. "Sasuke!" he cried, "You have to save Sakura! She was kidnapped! One of these bastards took her through the portal."

Sasuke gave a curt nod and gave him an angry grunt, "Can you handle these guys yourself?"

"It's gonna take more than them to beat me!" yelled Naruto enthusiastically, "Taijuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Instantly Naruto made another one hundred copies of himself.

"Hn." Sasuke fought his way to a portal and crossed over. He had to save Sakura. He just had to. If anything happened to her, he wouldn't forgive himself...or the person responsible.

At first opportunity Sasuke jumped into a portal. Just by jumping in he could figure out the jutsu. The portals were controlled by one person, it was a bloodline trait. The person could create warped tunnels from one place to another, and this person was allowing others access to these tunnels creating the perfect ambush. Now all Sasuke had to do was find the person and defeat them and then Naruto would stand a better chance against the black ninja.

Sasuke stepped out, on the other side of the portal and quickly found a hiding place among the marsh plants. Ahead of him he saw a group of four people moving deeper into the marshes, carrying a very large, suspicious looking sack.

Sasuke's eyes widened when he saw a flash of pink. His surprise quickly became anger as he realized that not only was Sakura being kidnapped but from the bluish tinge her skin was taking she was most probably poisoned. _They're gonna pay. I'll make sure of it._

He didn't have much time, if the poison stayed in Sakura's body for too long she would die. Using his lightning speed Sasuke caught up to the four man cell in front of him, forgetting completely about the Portal Jutsu. But what he saw nearly made him fall out off the tree branch he was perched on.

Minake was leading the squad! She was a traitor!

In one swift movement Sasuke moved through the other three ninja and pinned Minake to a nearby tree, kunai press to the vein in her neck. Sasuke was giving her a furious glare that could have burned her along with the tree behind her.

Infuriatingly enough Minake giggled and said, "Sasuke, love, I thought you'd never show. You've been following us for a bit I expect."

"What the hell are you up to Minake?" growled Sasuke icily, "If you hurt her I'll kill you."

"Tut. Tut. Now Sasu-chan be nice. You wouldn't want anything to happen to precious lil Ayumi-chan now would you?" Minake cackled.

Sasuke froze. _Then that bastard Itachi was telling the truth. They have Ayumi! _

Minake took advantage of this seconds worth of hesitation and opened a portal behind her and disappeared into it calling, "She's all yours Slick. Do as you please."

Sasuke allowed her to escape. He had to save Sakura first. He turned and faced the other three ninja that he had ignored before. He recognized all three. They were all men from the Tavern that had wanted to join Otonashi.

"If you don't hand her over you'll die," Sasuke threatened.

"Ye heard Minake-sama. She belongs to me. I'll do with her as I please," the man Slick gave Sasuke a nasty grin, "Yer too late to save yer girlfriend loser boy."

Sasuke sent him a glare that would have sent ghosts to their graves. He didn't like the way Slick was looking at Sakura, like she was a piece of meat.

"Harassing women in general is shameful but messing with Sakura is like asking for death," said Sasuke his voice dripping with danger.

Slick smirked, "She cain't do nothin' in this state. I admit she wus a tough un ta beat. But she's an easy win now."

"She's not who you'll have to worry about."

"Huh? AHAHAHA!! Dream on lover boy! Yeh cain't do nothin' bout it."

With that he roughly placed his lips on Sakura's neck his hand ready to grope her body.

Before he could even comprehend what was happening, Slick was soaring through the air; his face having met with the enraged Uchiha's fist.

"Big mistake," said Sasuke in a deadly whisper. _HE. WILL. DIE._ Sasuke was now holding Sakura in his own arms and looked down at her sickly face. He carried her to the tree he had pinned Minake to and placed her carefully on the ground.

"Kuchiose-no-jutsu!"

A small white snake appeared and hissed at Sasuke, "What do you want?"

"Nagrani, Can you suck the poison out of her?"

"I'm a snake! I _poison_ people! Not heal them!" she hissed indignantly

"Can you or can you not do it?" asked Sasuke coldly.

"One of these days...Fine." the snake called Nagrani attached herself to Sakura's neck and proceeded in pulling out the poison that was coursing through her body.

Sasuke allowed his worry to fade as he let the rage and livid anger refill him. He turned back around to see that the two henchmen had already fled...leaving only Slick, who was trying to pick himself up. Sasuke gave a sadistic grin. Slick was going to pay.

Within minutes Slick was burned, bruised and bleeding from every place possible on his body. The furious Uchiha hadn't left a piece of him unscathed. Slick was sporting two black eyes and he didn't have a single working tooth left in his mouth. His hair was burnt to a crisp and blood was flowing freely from his shattered nose. And if his face seemed bad, the rest of his body was ten times worse.

"Forgive me," he spluttered, spraying blood, "I won' touch a woman again. Never. I swears it. Jus don' kill me. 'ave mercy." The tears flowing from the man's eyes made the man look worse than before, if at all possible.

Sasuke glared at the pitiful man and said, "Get outta my sight. NOW."

The man scrambled to leave as fast as his shattered legs would allow, but he was too slow for the Uchiha, and before he knew it he was once again sailing through the air.

Sasuke turned and went back to Sakura the worry returning ten-fold. He kneeled by her head looking anxiously at Nagrani.

"Nagrani? How is she? Will she live?" he looked at Sakura's pale figure, true fear ebbing at his senses.

Nagrani flicked out her tongue in a small hiss of annoyance, "Did you have to wait so long in calling me to help? She was nearly dead when I started. It would have been impossible for anyone to save her."

"Then shes..." he looked at her horrified.

"You're lucky I'm not just anyone," Nagrani hissed angrily, "She'll be fine. But she needs rest, and cleaning her cuts wouldn't be a bad idea either."

"Right. Thanks."

Nagrani tilted her head and hissed at Sasuke again. Was she just thanked by the Uchiha? She slithered up Sasuke arm and coiled herself around his neck and brought her head up Sasuke's eye level.

"You seem to be very taken with this girl. Could it be that she was able to melt you're cold heart?" the snake hissed teasingly into Sasuke's ear.

Sasuke glared at the snake, "That's not it. She's a teammate I had to save her."

"Didn't mean you had to beat that poor man to a bloody pulp," said Nagrani in a voice that suggested that were she human she would be grinning. Sasuke threw her an annoyed look. "Well, my work is done. Take good care of her Sasuke," And with that Nagrani disappeared.

"I'm not taken with her," Sasuke muttered, knowing full well he was lying to himself. He proceeded to clean Sakura's cuts, not that there were many. He smirked smugly. _She was poisoned and she still gave 'em hell. _

He picked up Sakura's pack and looked thru it to find some medical supplies. He took out a rag and clean water and wiped the scratches on her arms and legs clean. Gently, he started to wipe the long scratch on her cheek. _Why is she getting paler? She should be getting better._

Sasuke turned her around to inspect her back. There going from shoulder to back was a deep gash bleeding profusely. Sasuke tensed, "Shit."

**---**

**A/N: I will be done with this fic by Jan 26. My new year's resolution. I thank all of you who have stayed with me. This chapter is dedicated to my amazing friend Amaya-chan. I 3 U !!!**


	10. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

Sasuke turned her around to inspect her back. There, going from shoulder to back, was a deep gash bleeding profusely. Sasuke tensed, "Shit."

Quickly he flipped Sakura over and assessed the wound. The cut was far too long and deep to heal on its own, she would need stitches and she would also need to be bandaged, at least until they got more help. Sasuke rummaged thru Sakura's pack and took out the necessary materials.

When he turned back to Sakura he hesitated. If he was going to properly take care of her wound he would have to take off her shirt. He weighed his options: (1) leave the shirt, save them both embarrassment and awkwardness and risk Sakura's life OR (2) take it off, save Sakura's life and then risk the embarrassment and awkwardness. Sasuke scowled._ Get a grip. I'm cleaning her wound nothing else. If she were anyone else it'd be the same thing._

Telling himself that, Sasuke quickly removed Sakura's shirt, pushing it down until her entire back was exposed and quickly got to work. After staying with Kabuto for so long he had to pick up the basics of medicine, lest he wanted to be touched by that conniving bastard. When he finished he redressed her and started to make a campfire. When he checked on Sakura again she was shaking and shivering. He felt her forehead and groaned. Sakura had a dangerous fever and he had no medication. _Damn! This is just what she needs, a fever. Great. _

He knew he had to keep her warm but since they no longer had the comfort of a hotel he did the next best thing. He sat down leaning against the tree and gathered Sakura into his arms so that she was comfortably sleeping on his chest. Sakura gave one final shudder and involuntarily snuggled into Sasuke's neck trying to soak up as much body heat as she could. Sasuke smiled inwardly and gently brushed his lips on her warm forehead. He would have stay up all night so they didn't get ambushed, but if he spent the night like this, well...he wanted to remember every second of it.

---

When first rays of sun touched her face, Sakura groaned and tried to sit up only to find that she was being held back by someone. Her eyes flew open and her body tensed.

The arms around her waist tightened and she felt someone breathing in her ear, "Calm down, and don't move so much, you're cuts will re-open."

"S-sasuke?" she asked surprised, "W-what happened?"

He allowed her to sit up a little but didn't let go of her. "Minake attacked us yesterday. She had you poisoned. You were in bad shape, but I cleaned all your wounds. The one on your back is really bad, so you may want to look at that one yourself."

"Thank you. But how did we end up like this?" She motioned to their positions. Not that she was complaining, just confused.

Sasuke's ears turned red and he growled to hide his embarrassment, "It was cold last night and you had a fever. I didn't waste my time saving you to have you die on me. I had to keep you warm somehow. If you want you can get up now, you're fever broke a few hours before dawn."

Sasuke smiled inwardly when she didn't move to shift her weight off him. She put her head on his chest again and listened to his heart beat while enjoying the feeling of his chest rising and falling.

She inhaled deeply only to find that she couldn't. Her bandages restricted her breathing from chest to abdomen. Then it came to her and she flushed, "Sasuke..."

"Hmm?"

"These bandages...did you–...How–...What I mean is–...Oh, never mind!" She turned away from him, heat flooding her face.

"I took no liberties, if that's what you're asking. I respect you more than that," his face equally heated.

His words made Sakura sharply turn back to him. She searched his eyes for lies or mockery and found nothing but truth and sincerity. Slowly she nodded. She tried to get up but Sasuke's arm tightened protectively around her waist again.

"I'm just going to see if I can speed up my healing process," she whispered, "It shouldn't take long."

Sasuke nodded. She tried getting up again and this time he let her go, although somewhat reluctantly. Just as she was about to move away he grabbed her wrist and twisted around her and pinned her to his tree.

"I almost lost you once. I promise I won't ever let that happen again," he whispered to her huskily. Without warning he clamped his lips over Sakura's, claiming them for himself.

_Sasuke's kissing me! But that's...that's...tha... _Contact from Sasuke's lips short circuited Sakura's brain. She could no longer think logically. Instead she allowed her body to take over and respond. His soft lips were gentle and hesitant but when they felt Sakura respond they became more sure and passionate. Reluctantly Sakura broke apart to breathe.

"You better go heal yourself," Sasuke murmured, "I can't have you breaking off so early next time."

Sakura blushed, "N-next time? Oh! Uh...right." She mentally cursed her slowly recovering brain. She turned an even deeper shade of red when she caught Sasuke looking at her with a smirk, telling her he full well knew the effect he had on her. She escaped his embrace and went to heal the cut in her back.

Meanwhile Sasuke gathered some fire wood and built a small fire, and heated some of the emergency food in Sakura's pack.

When Sakura got back he handed her the food and pulled her down and gathered her in his arms. They ate in silence, while Sasuke kept his protective hold on Sakura.

"Sasuke? ...Is something wrong?" Sakura asked tentatively, "You seem a bit...distracted?" She couldn't place what it was, but whatever it was it had to be big for the cold hearted Sasuke to start showing emotion so openly. "You know you can trust me right?"

For awhile they sat in silence. When she finally thought that she wasn't going to get an answer from him, he said, "I know I can trust you. I just...I just don't know what to say..."

Sakura didn't reply. She waited for him to gather his thought. If there was one thing she learned about Sasuke it was that you couldn't force him to do anything. If he wanted to share, he would.

"I- I thought they were all gone. But I missed her. How could I have overlooked it? All these years and not once did I think..." he trailed off.

"I don't understand," said Sakura. She placed her hand on Sasuke's cheek and made him face her.

Gingerly Sasuke brought his hand up to stroke Sakura's hair. "He has her...that bastard has Ayumi."

"Whose Ayumi?" asked Sakura with curiosity.

"She was...She _is_ my little sister," he explained.

"I...I can't lose her again. Not a second time."

"We'll save her. Together," said Sakura with determination.

Sasuke looked at Sakura. What he saw surprised him. In her eyes he could see a fervor that rivaled his own. _And all these years I thought she would hold me back._

"Sasuke, I just have one question. What happened to Naruto?"

---

Kakashi looked around. It would be a comical site if not for the people hurt. Half of the hotel was perfectly unscathed while the other half looked like it had just been thru every possible natural disaster all in one go. Water pooled in every depression, smoke and burn marks were everywhere and some walls seemed to be on the receiving end of Naruto's rassengan. Kakashi would sell his soul if some of the cracks in the earth hadn't come from Sakura's fist. A few of the braver townspeople could be seen looking for survivors.

He turned to the two jounin, one chunin and Pakkun, who constituted his team for this rescue mission. He summoned the rest of his dogs and said, "Search for Naruto, Sakura or Sasuke. If you find anyone signal me. Help any survivor you can. Go."

They scattered, looking frantically for their friends. They had barely begun searching when Kakashi heard one of the signals.

"Kakashi-san I found-,"

"Kakashi-sensei! What took you so long? They have Sasuke and Sakura! We have to save them! LETS GO! 'TEBAYO!"

---

Sasuke set the pace, making sure to go slowly enough to allow Sakura to recover. If they were going to get into a fight, they both would need her strength.

Sakura and Sasuke wasted no time in following what remained of Minake's trail. Ever so often they came upon a marked tree, an obvious trap or even the dead body of a traitorous follower.

"She wants us to follow," Sasuke growled, getting angrier with every trap he and Sakura had to disable.

"Just think of it this way. The faster we get there the faster we can save Ayumi. Save your anger for Otonashi," soothed Sakura, although she was fighting her own anger.

It was almost midday of the next day when neared the end of the trail.

"There's a cave ahead. That's where they're holding Ayumi," Sasuke said.

"Let's go."

As they came up to the mouth of the cave they saw a shadowed silhouette of a person positioned as if she were waiting for them.

"Aww, Sasuke-kun. Why did you take so long? I know my trail wasn't that hard to follow," Minake pouted, "We could have had fun last night, before the actual fight."

"Hn," Sasuke did nothing but glare.

"You're sick, you know that," Sakura's voice was laced with venom.

Minake's eyes widened, noticing Sakura for the first time, "Bitch, why are you still alive. That poison should have killed you minutes after I left."

Sakura smirked, "Your _beloved_ Sasuke-kun saved me." She grinned triumphantly.

"Humph. I see. I guess I'll just have to try harder to win him over now won't I," she glared at Sakura, "I'll kill you in no time. But in the meantime, Sasuke-kun, you're expected inside. Ayumi is just _dying _to see you." Minake cackled.

Sasuke stiffened. _If anything happens to her I'll kill them all._ "Sakura, can you take her?"

"Consider her dead." Sakura whipped out two kunai and sent them flying towards Minake.

Minake flipped out of the way and giggled. "You better be better than that. I don't want to be bored."

"Get going Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke gave a curt nod and entered the cave.

---

**A/N: Sorry I was sick for a few days otherwise this would have been up sooner. Also I this may sound a little rushed, but I want to finish the story. The next chapter should be the last (maybe epilogue if I think its needed) but that's all. **

**Thanks to all my reviewers. **


	11. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

**A/N: Sorry. I truly lost interest in this story. I want to thank everyone who stuck with me for this fic. Honestly I think it sucks but so many ppl have told me that they love it, so i want to thank you all. **

**Dedication: Amaya-chan. I couldn't have done it with out you. Actually, I prolly wouldn't have done it with out you so thank you. This fic is for you.**

**Warning: May sound rushed. Forgive me please. If you really really really want...ask me and I may re-do it. But its not likely.**

**Recap: **

Sasuke, Sakura and Naruto are on a mission to capture Otonashi. They were supposed to meet another undercover ninja, Minake, in Hidden Mist. There they find that Otonashi is trying to bring Itachi back to life. Sasuke's strange nightmares/visions are caused by Itachi, who had transferred his soul into Sasuke's body before his death. Itachi is steadily growing stronger and taking control of Sasuke's mind and body. Sakura and Naruto are ambushed by Minake who is an imposter working for Otonashi. Sakura is kidnapped and Sasuke goes after her and then continues onward to save his sister, Ayumi, from Otonashi. Sakura stayed behind to fight Minake.

**Chapter 10**

"Get going Sasuke!" Sakura yelled.

Sasuke gave a curt nod and entered the cave.

* * *

Flip. Kick. Dodge. Punch. It had only been a few minutes into the battle but Sakura was already panting for much needed air. _I need to finish this quickly. I haven't recovered enough to keep fighting like this for long._

Minake seemed to have read Sakura's mind, "What's wrong? Can't keep up?" she taunted, "Here's a deal. If you promise not to struggle I'll make sure you feel no pain when I kill you. How 'bout it? Hmm?"

"Not even in your dreams SHANNARO!!" Sakura cursed at her. _It's now or never._

In a flash, Sakura was face to face with the imposter. "Die you lowlife," she muttered and with that her chakra packed fist connected to Minake face creating a sickening crunch.

Minake flew through the air her flight broken by a near-by tree. She lay there unmoving, hardly showing any signs of life save for her heaving chest marking that she was still breathing.

Sakura made her way to the tree, her kunai in her hand, ready to deliver the finishing blow. She looked down at the pathetic being and scowled, disgusted. She was going to end this. Now.

* * *

Sasuke entered the cave cautiously. It occurred to him that caution wasn't really necessary seeing as they knew he was coming but if he could save Ayumi he didn't want to take any chances. The tunnel was rather short as it quickly came upon a very large well let room.

"Ahh. Welcome brother of Itachi. Please come this way. No reason to fear...yet," sneered a poisonous voice.

Sasuke pinpointed the speaker instantly and spoke to him using a dangerous tone, "Otonashi! Where is Ayumi? If she has been harmed I'll–"

"Hasty aren't we. But if you insist." The tall pale man gestured towards different part of the cave. There in a cage lay a frail-looking girl.

"Ayumi!!" Sasuke ran over to her, breaking open the cage, "Ayumi!? Are you alright? Are you hurt? I'm so sorry! Ayumi! Say something.

"Sasuke-nii-chan...y-you came," she gasped out, "I-I knew you would. Thank you." She began coughing up blood.

"Ayumi? What happened? What did they do to you?"

Ayumi shook her head. "Run," she croaked, "Don't let them get you."

"I'm not leaving you. Not again."

Tears began to stream down her face, "Please nii-chan, RUN!"

"Sorry to cut this reunion short but we have things to take care of," Otonashi interrupted. In one swift movement he grabbed Ayumi out of Sasuke's arms and threw her to one of his men.

Sasuke was beyond rage, "You will pay for that. I gonna-"

"Before that," Otonashi interrupted, "take a look at your precious sister. See that ring around her neck. If I activate my chakra it will squeeze the life out of her. Not that she isn't more than half dead already but this will just finish the process. I suggest you cooperate."

"You wish," Sasuke spat at him.

"If you insist," Otonashi raised his hand and gestured toward Ayumi. Ayumi began chocking and clawing at her throat, desperately trying to remove the ring around her neck.

"STOP IT! Stop! I'll cooperate," said Sasuke feeling defeated. He wasn't going to risk Ayumi's life.

Otonashi flashed a mocking grin, "I knew you'd see things my way. Come along then."

* * *

"Sakura! Sakura!"

Sakura turned. She was just about to set off for the cave when a small brown dog had called her name.

"Pakkun!" she cried.

"Sakura you're alright. Naruto will be glad to hear that. Where's Sasuke?"

"We had to split up. Sasuke went ahead to meet Otonashi."

"I see. Let's get back to Kakashi-san and Naruto. Sasuke's gonna need back up."

Sakura gave a curt nod and turned to leave with Pakkun.

* * *

"Otonashi-sama! Everything is in order. The bones are arranged. The girl is in place for the blood transfusion and Sasuke's in position for the soul transmission," reported a nervous lackey.

"Good. Then let's begin."

Sasuke looked around desperately for anything that could save Ayumi at the least. He had been strapped to an operating table that ate away at his chakra. But he wouldn't let that stop him. He had to find a way out and fast.

"_Give it up. You've lost," sneered Itachi, "Soon Otonashi will use his jutsu to recreate my body and give me my second life."_

"_There's no way I'm letting you do that," snarled Sasuke._

"_And what are you gonna do to stop me?"_

_When Sasuke didn't reply Itachi laughed. There was nothing that could stop him now._

Otonashi positioned himself in between Ayumi and Itachi's skeleton and placed his hands on each one's forehead. Using his technique he began extracting blood from Ayumi and little by little used it to reconstruct the Itachi's body upon his skeleton.

A few of the lackeys paled, unnerved by their master's jutsu.

Sasuke struggled against his bonds but he had very little chakra remaining. There was little he could do to escape. Ayumi was paling quickly and Itachi's body was quickly being reconstructed. 'Sakura, Naruto, please hurry,' he thought desperately. 'Ayumi won't last much longer.'

He had barely finished the thought when he heard the familiar, "TAIJUU KAGE BUNSHIN-NO-JUTSU!!" The color orange had never been so welcome to his eyes. About a thousand Naruto's charged in blindly, engaging everyone and everything in battle.

One clone made his way towards Sasuke and smirked, "Teme, you let a table stop you?"

"Naruto shut up and save Ayumi. I can take care of myself."

Naruto grinned, "I'm already doing that. Now do you want help or not?"

"Dammit Naruto just get me free already," growled Sasuke irritated.

Naruto freed Sasuke, but before he could say anything else Sasuke fell unconscious.

"_I won't let you defeat me!" snarled Itachi._

"_Tch. You lost back when I killed you. Get out of my body!" replied Sasuke smoothly._

"_Make me."_

_Sasuke launched himself at Itachi determined to kill his brother once and for all._

* * *

Naruto and Kakashi rounded on Otonashi. Once again Naruto charged forward with his clones attacking Otonashi from every side. Otonashi was quick. Before a single clone could lay a finger on him he had already moved on to the next clone. Within seconds every clone had been dispelled.

"You attempts are pathetic," Otonashi sneered.

He aimed his hands towards Kakashi and Naruto and from them shot slimy leeches. The leeches cover them and began drawing out their chakra.

"You think that's gonna stop us?" Naruto charged forward again only to be thrown backward. He hit the cavern wall leaving a large crater.

"Naurto!" Kakashi yelled and turned back to his enemy and gritted his teeth, "Kuchiose-no-jutsu!"

Kakashi's dogs attacked and paralyzed Otonashi but only for a moment. The dogs, like Naruto were thrown back. Ototnashi opened his mouth and let out a high-pitched screech that deafened the dogs.

Naruto attacked again using kunai and exploding seals.

Otonashi laughed, "You call that explosions? I'll show you explosions." Otonashi opened his mouth and let out a deafening wail. Upon hearing the wail, the leeches used the chakra they had absorbed and exploded on their bodies.

Slowly they both got up. Kakashi signaled Naruto. He nodded. Once again Naruto made a massive amount of clones. The clones all attacked at once.

"The same thing again?" mocked Otonashi, "Really you bore me."

But Otonashi's eyes widened when he saw two Naruto's charging at him with a Rassengan from one side and Kakashi with his Chidori from the other. It was too late for him to move and he was caught between the two powerful attacks.

* * *

_Sasuke had engaged Itachi in the fastest fist know to any shinobi. Both Uchiha's were faster than lightning, able to see everything and counter it all at once. Landing a blow was just as difficult as blocking them. _

_Sasuke flipped back landing on his feet facing his brother. Both were tired and gasping for air. Sasuke used kunai attached to chakra strings to bind his brother. He used his most powerful Chidori and charged at him aiming for his heart and struck._

_Itachi's knees buckled and he fell forward unable to pick himself up and breathing his last._

* * *

Sasuke sat up, gasping for breath. Naruto was sitting next to him squinting giving him a pissed look.

"Teme! You slept thru the battle! Not that your ass would have helped any. But you missed me in action. I was so cool! You should have seen when those leeches..." Naruto babbled on.

He was back. Sasuke was back and in complete control of his mind and body. And by the looks of things in the cave Otonashi had been defeated. But where was Sakura and Ayumi?

"...and then Kakashi-sensei and I, well it was mostly me Kakashi helped a little, and- "

"Where's Ayumi? Is she alright? Is she alive? Where's Sakura?"

"-eh uh..." Naruto lost his wide grin, "They're over there." He pointed.

Sasuke got up and ran to them. Ayumi was very pale and very thin. Sakura had managed to get the metal ring off her neck but it had left an angry bluish-purple bruise. Sasuke swallowed. He was afraid. What would he do if she didn't make it? Slowly and hesitantly he touched her cheek. It was cool but still radiated warmth. She was still alive.

Sasuke turned to Sakura who was still concentrating on healing the youngest Uchiha. Sasuke didn't dare disturb her. After what seem like forever Sakura's glowing green chakra returned to her hands. She sighed and looked up noticing Sasuke for the first time.

"Oh you're awake! I'm so relieved," she said.

Sasuke didn't respond. He shifted to take Ayumi's head into his lap and asked, "Will she be okay?"

"She's going to be fine. Her body is physically weak and she's been malnourished but she'll live and under our care she'll be healthy again. In fact she should be waking up soon."

Sasuke remained silent for awhile. Finally he looked up and looked Sakura in the eye. Sakura blushed slightly and lowered her gaze. "Thank you," he said, "Thank you for saving Ayumi, for understanding me, and for putting up with my stubbornness."

He reached out and took Sakura's hand in his and leaned forward. Their lips were only inches apart when Ayumi stirred. She groaned and slowly opened her eyes.

"Ayumi!? Ayumi are you alright?" Sasuke asked worriedly.

"Sasuke-onii-chan?" she croaked.

"Here drink this." Sakura held a canteen of water to her lips. When Ayumi had drank her fill she put it away.

"Sasuke-onii-chan you came for me. He said you didn't care. Th-that you forgot me. But I knew you'd come for me. I just knew it!" She threw her arms around Sasuke's neck surprising him. Gently he put one arm around her as well.

Kakashi came up to them and squatted down to see Ayumi. "Hello," he said putting his hand up.

Upon seeing him, Ayumi cringed away in fear. Sasuke noticed and smiled, "Don't worry. No ones going to hurt you anymore."

"And I'm Uzumaki Naruto!" Naruto introduced himself loudly, "I'm the best ninja there is! So if Sasuke-teme isn't paying attention then I'll protect you!" He grinned at her.

Annoyed at his behavior Sakura punched him. "Itai-tai-tai! Sakura-chan what was that for?"

Ayumi giggled and whispered to Sasuke, "I like him."

"It's hard not to." Sasuke replied.

"Sasuke it's about time we headed back to Konoha. Are you and Ayumi-chan up for the journey?" Kakashi asked.

"Ayumi should stay off her feet for awhile. We will have to carry her back," said Sakura.

"I'll carry her," said Sasuke, "And I'm definitely ready to leave this place."

"Ayumi-chan? Are you ready?"

Ayumi nodded. Sasuke helped Ayumi sit up and then crouched down in front of her. "Get on" he said.

Ayumi's eyes widened. She quickly wrapped her arms and legs around her older brother and snuggled into his neck.

"Don't let go. We're going home."

**--THE END--**

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